UPS wants to expand its presence in France with the opening of two new branches this year. Inaddition, the company expects to double the number of its employees in the next five years with the
aim to become an important market player in the country, the French newspaper La Tribune reported.To expand its regional network, UPS plans to open two new branches in France this yearincreasing the total number to 39 in the country, after having doubled the capacity of its road hubin Chilly-Mazarin, a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris. Moreover, the company opened a newtraining centre in Rennes two months ago destined for future UPS managers to be responsible forWestern Europe.
“In France, we want to become an important market player who takes up time”, Jean-FrançoisCondamine, managing director at UPS Western Europe (comprising France, Netherlands, Belgium andLuxemburg), told La Tribune in an interview.
Even though UPS doesn’t have a strong position on the French market yet, it increased itsturnover in France by 13% last year with the market growing by 4%. In the first 4 months of 2008,the turnover of the company increased by 16%.
Separately, UPS plans to recruit 300 new employees this year and expects to double its staffin 5 years. The company currently counts 2400 employees in France 800 of which are drivers.
“We cover more and more French departments with our sales force aiming to be as local aspossible”, added Condamine.
To establish itself on a very competitive and mature market in France, UPS mainly targetssmall and medium sized enterprises (SME) focusing on luxury goods, vine, clothes, perfume etc. Dueto booming e-commerce, UPS also tries to move increasingly towards private customers. Followingthis trend, the B2C sector is estimated to make up 20% of the turnover this year compared to 10% in2007.
Established in France since 1981, UPS hasn’t been very active on the French market until nowas it was busy expanding its presence in Asia and Eastern Europe. In China alone, the companyopened 37 centres within one year.
