News
DHL sells UK domestic parcel business to Home Delivery Network
This press release relates to a new development in the UK parcel market. All HDNL and DHL services are covered by MetaPack so if labels or reporting systems change in any way they will automatically be covered with MetaPack’s system and there need be no interruption to service.
- Home Delivery Network to operate acquired business under DHL Domestic brand in the short term, take over all employees
- DHL Express UK to fully concentrate on its Time Definite International business
- Home Delivery Network will create a leading domestic parcel delivery service in the UK
- Strong portfolio of logistics, international express and mail services underlines DHL's commitment to the UK market
DHL, the world's leading logistics provider, agreed to sell its UK domestic parcel business to Home Delivery Network (HDN), a leading provider of domestic business-to-consumer parcel deliveries in the UK. HDN will assume all employees and facilities of the business. In order to leverage the core strengths of both companies the parties have entered a wider preferred supplier relationship, under which HDN will continue to use the DHL Domestic brand in the short term. This will enable domestic parcel customers of both companies to benefit from a wider range of services. Furthermore, the agreement also covers joint customer management processes as well as a preferred supplier status of DHL for logistics services.
"We are confident that this move will help us improve the overall quality of our international services while at the same time enhancing domestic parcel services for UK customers," said Ken Allen, Chief Executive Officer of DHL Express. "The agreement allows us to concentrate our resources on further growing the profitable express businesses."
The agreement is limited to DHL's domestic parcel business, also known as the Day Definite Domestic business, which concentrates on shipments that are delivered within the UK on a certain day rather than at a specific time of the next day. DHL Express will now focus its full attention on its Time Definite International and Same Day express services, both internationally and throughout the UK. DHL's Servicepoint facilities and the company's online offering DHLitNow are unaffected by this move.
Ken McCall, CEO of DHL Express UK, said: "It was important to us to divest our own parcel business to a company that we can trust. HDN is a strong and well-respected player in the B2C field and thus ideally complements the B2B focused services we currently offer. This will certainly create an unrivaled service for all UK domestic parcel customers. We remain committed to ensuring our domestic parcel customers receive DHL's usual high standards of service and will work closely with HDN to ensure a smooth transition process. It will absolutely be business as usual for these customers."
DHL plans to transfer its UK day definite parcel operations to HDN by the end of the first quarter 2010. The business currently employs some 4,700 people and operates five hubs as well as 71 Service Centres spread throughout the UK. DHL Domestic will continue to use a wide range of DHL services from DHL that are currently supporting the domestic parcel unit, such as air transport, IT and financial services.
The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.
With its around 50,000 employees working for DHL Express, DHL Freight, DHL Global Forwarding, DHL Supply Chain, DHL Global Mail and Williams Lea, DHL remains one of the biggest employers in the United Kingdom.
Brian Gaunt, HDN chief executive, said:
“This transaction is great news for customers of both HDN and DHL Domestic. The growth of e-commerce has transformed our marketplace and with it the demands of our customers. Combining these businesses will enable us to offer our clients a wider variety of propositions and a more efficient service. However our immediate focus will be to maintain the exceptionally high standards of service that our customers have come to expect from both businesses.”