Tuffnells profits boos
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/Tunnels Parcels Express managing director Paul Gregory is predicting healthy profits this year despite a severely depressed market: "We have been in the black all year and our profits should be big stuff," he says.
The Transport Development Group subsidiary went through a painful period of redundancies and restructuring 18 months ago but is now benefiting from a move into one-day guaranteed multi-drop deliveries of light packages and a shift towards owner-drivers.
Nearly 10% of staff drivers have been shed through natural wastage and the proportion of owner-drivers has risen by 20%. While at pains to stress that job cuts are "definitely not on the cards," Gregory reports that owner-drivers have given Tuffnells lower absenteeism and bet ter productivity. "We have changed our sales pitch from heavier consignments to light single carton consignments and concentrated on the one-day guaranteed sector," says Gregory.
"Previously, we were competing with UPS, Lynx and the nonguaranteed elements of Federal Express and TNT. Now we are against Interlink, Parceline and the TNT and FedEx express services, and we are doing much better."
The Tuffnells sales force has more than doubled and with the help of French parcels group Ducros, which took a 50% stake in the company in June 1989, all the depots have been fully computerised.