CEVA NEWSFAST
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Ever since the flight of the newspapers to Wapping in the mid-1980s, led by News International (NI), the big name in newspaper distribution has been TNT Newsfast.
In fact, one of the iconic images of the industrial dispute prompted by the relocation was TNT lorries leaving the printing plant through a sea of angry protestors.
Prior to NI's move to Wapping, rail had been the predominant mode of transport for newspaper delivery. However, on the back of NI leaving, the Mirror Group also turned to road for its distribution needs, Initially moving to Exel Newsf low.
Following the loss of these two big players, rail increased its prices to compensate, making the rail model untenable for the remaining Nies The Exel/TNT duopoly survived virtually unchanged for the next decade with some shifting of titles between the two -until the development of a state-of-the-art print centre at Westferry, With The Guardian joining The Daily Telegraph, Daily Express and Financial Times at Westferry, TNT sewed up the market at Exel's expense, Other logistics firms attempted to move into the sector during the 1990s, but none succeeded for more than a single contract term. This meant that TNT Newsfast, which became Ceva Newsfast when TNT sold its logistics division, controlled the entire market by 2002.
Ceva Newsfast MD David Bermingham says: "Newspapers became a core sector for us. We have always focused on providing outstanding service; our hit rate against a 15-minute delivery window still sAs at 99.6%.
'We also became increasingly creative, finding ways to deliver cost efficiencies to clients through our wider network."
Although Ceva has since lost both the NI titles and those of Associated Newspapers, it recently renewed its contract with Telegraph Media Group for another five years.
Steve McLaughlin, Telegraph Media Group Director, adds: "We have worked with Ceva for 20 years and view the team as an extension of our own.
"We are confident in the company's ability to deliver, and to do so cost effectively."
Although the firm will undoubtedly feel the loss of NI's volume, it remains bullish about the prospects for the sector and points out that it has retained more contracts than it has lost.