Bees branches out
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• Bees Security Distribution is going into truck rental and is launching several new services, including a home delivery operation for mail order customers.
Bees, which was bought out by its management from the Lex Services Group last year, is also investing in a guaranteed next-day, two-day and three-day delivery operation as well as a new return service to collect unwanted mail order goods for return to the supplier, and an improvement to its Irish routes.
It also intends to offer, for the first time, a guaranteed next-day service to Eire.
Managing director Barrie Dowsett says the firm has invested more than £100,000 in developing these new services "and that is excluding vehicle costs for our new rental fleet". According to Dowsett: "It's going to be a long learning curve, we've not been in the rental market before. We'll start with a fleet of about a dozen trucks at our headquarters in Hincldey, and we will spread out from there."
Bees' approach will consist of "cautious expansion." It has decided to move into such a competitive market because, according to Dowsett: "We sometimes have to hire trucks ourselves and good vehicles are hard to find. Last year, we were having to hire trucks out of Manchester to use at Hinckley."
Within the next 12 months Dowsett says he would like to see 12 hire vehicles operating out of each of Bees' four main depots around the country.
The rental fleet currently comprises Volkswagen LT45 vans, Mercedes 16-tonne boxvans and Scania 32-tonne tractor units. All will be fitted with security alarms.
Many hauliers shy away from home delivery networks because of the high cost of maintaining such a service. Bees maintains that existing customers have requested such a service and that it is a necessary development. Consumer electronics customers such as Sony will be interested in extending their existing contracts with Bees to the home delivery market.
ID Bees has an annual turnover of .212 million and handles about six million parcels a year on behalf of 1,300 customers. The group has more than 250 vehicles, and 550 employees.