MN goes for contracts
Page 12
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• Mayne Nickless, the Australian owner of express carrier Parceline, is turning its attention to the contract distribution market currently dominated by companies like TNT, NFC, Christian Salvesen and TUG.
An Australian, Ingilby Dickson, who was previously Mayne Nickless' national marketing manager in Australia, has been brought over to head-up the operation.
After just three weeks in this country Dickson says plans are still far from settled — but he claims there is plenty of contract distribution business to be had outside the retail sector preferred by most existing players.
Dickson says the Parceline client list is already providing him with loads, while Mayne Nickless' experience in contact distribution and contact-hire in Australia is proving useful.
Mayne Nickless has brought Dickson over for three years: he says he expects the company to be winning its first contract distribution business, albeit on a small scale, within twelve months.
In the meantime, Mayne Nickless is developing its new parcel company, MayneXpress, launched in a trial in Bristol and Exeter in November last year. MayneXpress is aimed at small parcels users, and will operate alongside Parceline.
Chief executive Barry Ellis says MayneXpress will be de
veloped through telephone marketing. There are 20 Mercedes-Benz 307D vans now operating in MayneXpress livery and Ellis hopes this will rise to 200 vans within a year. The company is currently enjoying a turnover of £20,000 a month, but Ellis believes it can grow to a £15 million annual turnover.
Then it would be separated to operate apart from Parceline, though continuing to utilise the Parceline hub in Birmingham.
Ellis says Mayne Nickless is currently considering entry into the European market. Two employees are scouring Europe for suitable entries into national markets, possibly through acquisitions.
There are also plans to enter the letter mail market. Ellis says that automatic sorting equipment being installed at the company's Parceline centre is capable of sorting up to 6,000 letters an hour, That equipment should be ready on 3 October. It will raise Parceline's sorting capacity from the present level of 12,000 to 23,000 parcels an hour.