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Speedy Parcels
Page 58
Page 59
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Jim Brogan welcomes us into what he affectionately refers to as "the dungeon": a windowless office inside a warehouse. This is the nerve centre of Speedy Parcels (SP), an overnight courier firm based at Metropolitan Park, Greenford, in West London.
"I've been in this business for an eternity," he says. He has served . his time both as a van driver and an operations manager with Business Post.
SP was founded in 2003, when Brogan and fellow director Cyrus Palkhiwalla bought a brace of vans. Four years on, there are five drivers, three of whom are self-employed. SP owns five vans. "We are specialists in overnight UK. European and international parcels," Brogan says.
But the firm can't hope to dispatch consignments across the world with five vans. Rather, it concentrates on the local market, and propels its goods further afield via the giant parcel operators.
Brogan and Palkhiwal la's vans collect goods from the HA (Harrow, Edgware and Wembley) postcode district, as well as the UB territory, which takes in Southall, Uxbridge, Greenford and Northolt. "Every driver has his own patch," says Brogan. Business customers dominate: 95% of all work involves corporate clients.
After collection, parcels are consolidated at the Metropolitan Park base. then Lynx, DHL and Business Post vehicles take them away. Some 80% of SP's corporate consignments are outward loads — collections from customers' premises.
The big fleets have total coverage, but Brogan believes they lack the personal touch. Regular customers like to speak to a trusted voice. "We have found the niche in the market, They [the customers] want to be able to ring Jim," says Brogan. "Every one of my customers knows they can get hold of me, and get something sorted out.'' The overnight nature of the job inevitably leads to unusual schedules but they are not outlandish here. All parcels are picked up by 4.30pm, and arrive at the Greenford depot no later than 5pm. Then they are labelled. By 7pm, the parcel fleets have taken them away.
SP's money is made in the overnight parcels sector, but Brogan and Palkhiwalla still manage to get their kip during normal hours. The firm performs the daytime duties, while the large firms work through the small hours. As such, SP is a small but vital cog in a larger nocturnal programme.
With the operational details covered, Brogan turns more philosophical. The "three C-words" characterise this overnight parcels market, he states: "Communication, co-operation and co-ordination. You can't have one without the others."
Heavy operators need to plan individual LGV trips, but Brogan and his colleagues must put in place multi-collect, rather than multi-drop, itineraries, "If you don't plan your time properly, you will upset people," he continues.
He produces a copy of the daily manifest, the piece of paper that bears the details of every collection and drop on a given day. Each one equates to a monetary transaction. Brogan and Palkhiwalia have laid down payment terms of 30 days. "Late payment is a big bugbear; 30% of our customers pay late," Brogan says.
Yet the two directors are willing to show a fair degree of goodwill: a customer's account will not be put on hold until they have gone 60 days without payment.
Profits remain tiny for 0-licence holdersabout 2-3%, Van operators do not have to shoulder the immense costs associated with running LGVs, so their margins tend to be healthier. Brogan says profits do fluctuate, according to the nature of the consignment and the customer who wants it shifted. With 40% of customers, Speedy makes between £1 and £1.10 profit per consignment. But, with the other 60% of the customer base, the profit can be as high as £3.00 for every parcel handled -a margin of 60%. "Road haulage is a lot tighter," acknowledges Brogan.
Because Speedy Parcels tends to collect rather than deliver parcels, we wonder if the end customers know that Brogan's team actually played a part in the carriage of their consignment. After all, the parcels giants enjoy the physical presence of the delivery man and a liveried van.
Brogan, though. tells us that his team places Speedy Parcels stickers on all the loads. "We do the corporate's donkey work," he remarks but at least a package is testament to the firm's efforts.
This underlines the fact that small operators have a role to play in this huge market. Those with a van, the will and organisational skills still have a place in this global sector.