ANC franchisees bid for parcel company
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• ANC's franchisees have put together a bid to buy the nationwide parcels company from its parent, British and Commonwealth Holdings.
A group of some 30 franchisees have banded together and opened a bank account under the name ANC Franchisee Association to make a seven-figure offer for the firm through a UK merchant bank.
ANC is part of British and Commonwealth, which includes companies like Air UK, Bristows and 1ML which the parent company wants to hive off. A management buyout from Bricon has been on British and Commonwealth's desk for several weeks and a decision is imminent.
The franchisees are unhappy with the idea of a management buyout and say that they want to control their own destiny.
"Without the good will of the franchisees," said the association, "ANC is a worthless buy."
ANC managing director Vic Barnes declined to comment on the franchisee bid or the management buyout, but British and Commonwealth has stated that the ANC division no longer fits in with its activities.
ANC has, more than 60 depots around.Britain and a large parcels sorting hub in Stokeon-Trent. It operates a nextday service and a three-day budget service. The majority of its depots are owned of whollyowned depots. The company was Britain's first franchised national parcels operation.
Bricon chief executive Julian Lee says that he has no intention of selling ANC to anyone.