New bid for Red Star
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• A London-based courier company is the front runner in the battle for British Rail's Red Star parcels business, after the previous favourite could not complete the purchase within BR's timetable.
This week it was announced that a consortium including British Bus, which BR had previously designated as the preferred buyer, was moving too slowly for BR's liking. To speed things up BR has decided to re-open negotiations with other short-listed bidders.
The dispatch rider service, Security Despatch, is one of the leading contenders. Managing director James Greenbury says he is unable to comment on whether his company is in the hunt but says: 'We are a reasonably acquisitive group."
The deal is worth more than £20m and would involve depots around the country.
Red Star was first put on the market in June 1993 but attracted no offers. British Bus, one of the largest bus operators in the UK, stepped in after Red Star had shed 450 jobs.
David Blake, managing director of the BR Vendor Unit which is responsible for the sale, says: "It became clear from discussions with our preferred bidder that a sale to them was unlikely to be completed before the autumn. "That is too long a period of uncertainty for the customers and staff of Red Star."