Newsletter 37

Following its acquisition of the courier delivery network of catalogue and online retailer JD Williams from TNT Post, Parcelnet has emerged with possibly the biggest “lifestyle” courier network in Britain, now numbering around 7,000 people. Last year Parcelnet acquired the UK courier network of catalogue group Redcats, taking on contracts to deliver to customers of La Redoute, Empire Stores, Vertbaudet and Daxon. Now it adds JD Williams itself to its range of customers.

Parcelnet says it has absorbed traffic volumes of 12.5 million extra parcels a year “smoothly and seamlessly”.
Parcelnet managing director Carole Woodhead says the acquisition will allow allowing service enhancements and provide continued growth of its client base. The price of the acquisition has not been revealed.

TNT is known to have been unhappy with the progress of its UK mail division’s parcels network, which it describes in its annual report for 2007 as “a disappointment”, though it reports better results in the rest of its operation.