Autumn 2008

A shared two-man transport and home delivery network for the retail market is planned by a group of retailers led by Don Marshall of IKEA, who is championing the concept.

Speaking at the Mail & Express Delivery conference, he told delegates: 'We're in the hands of 3PLs at the moment, and we don't want to be.' He added that the organisers would welcome 'a couple more' partners to add critical mass to the project.

The idea is to create an independent management company to run the system, and then to engage third-party logistics companies to provide the service. Although this means 3PLs will still be involved, under the new regime they will be working as subcontractors to the new business, rather than running contracts themselves in the traditional sense.

Marshall says the operation can be 'lean, simple and quick', and will run a high-specification centralised system using standard operating procedures.