1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140 
BT may explore postal synergie
Page 8
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
II Management of two of the UK's biggest vehicle fleets could merge as postal group Consignia and telecommunications giant E3T look for ways of making their operations more cost-effective.
Consignia held a meeting in London on Monday (15 October) to brief potential bidders on its plans to outsource Royal Mail and Parcelforce's combined Fleet of 44,000 vehicles (CM 6-12 Sept).
Although BT has yet to express an interest publicly about any deal with Consignia, the potential for synergies between the two operations are obvious.
BT's in-house operation, called BT Fleet, has 730 employees and 130 depots compared with Consignia's 185; both companies were part of the Post Office before privatisation began in the early 1980s.
Simon Sapper, national negotiator for the Communication Workers Union (CW11) in BT Fleet, says there are already Joint servicing arrangements between the two companies: "Clearly they Oil are aware; clearly they are interested. But the strength of their interest is open to question in my opinion." He adds that any merger would depend on a third party providing finance for the two fleets.
BT wants to expand BT Fleet, which manages 58,000 vehicles, including 37,000 light CVs and 400 HGVs. Consignia is seeking a partner or partners to run its fleet—its preferred option would be to retain a 51% share of any joint venture.
A AT spokeswoman says: "We are looking for a partner to help grow our business. I would not rule out anything."
Consignia says dozens of companies have expressed interest in its outsourcing deal but will not confirm whether BT was one of them.
Tim Jones, commercial director of Bethell Fleet Services in Manch attended Monday's briefin says Consignia will strugi find a single provider wit nationwide network of ser outlets that it needs.
Kevin McNally, commt director of LeasePlan, sa company is interested but "commonality" between th( organisations has to be e: lished first: "It's hard to kn we want to get involved un1 get further information."
• Consignia has signed a th month "no-strike" deal wit! CWIJ after promising nal introduce any changes to w ing practices without u agreement.