Hermes UK has teamed up with fulfilment services provider HubEurope to offer the firstalternative home delivery service for Jersey-based fulfilment houses and retailers shipping
products to the UK.HubEurope will use Hermes’ position as the leading UK courier network to compete with the postaloperator Jersey Post for 60 million parcels and packets delivered to the UK each year.
The J+2 (Jersey + 2 days) solution will provide a 48-hour, fully tracked service to addressesacross the UK, with 94% of all packages delivered first time.
HubEurope will target businesses using Jersey for offshore fulfilment that takes advantage ofLow Value Consignment Relief privileges, allowing items under £18.00 to be sold to an EU addresswithout the addition of VAT to the price. This will include retailers and fulfilment houses sellinga range of low value products such as CDs, DVDs, books and bulbs.
The first company using the HubEurope and Hermes partnership will be Flying Brands for its mailorder Gardening Direct operation. Following an initial four-week trial, more than one million itemsmade up of bulbs and plants will be delivered to the UK each year. Packages will be shipped toSouthampton by ferry on a daily basis. From there, they will be transported to Hermes’ national hubin Nuneaton for onward delivery to the company’s regional depot network and more than 7,500lifestyle couriers.
Christopher Bee, Director of HubEurope, commented: “Our partnership with Hermes will enable usto provide a highly competitive delivery solution when compared to the existing service offered byJersey Post and Royal Mail. Not only will we provide cost effective two-day delivery for unsortedpackages, but also include full online tracking, as well as signature captured for more than 50% ofdeliveries despite essentially being a non-POD service.”
Carole Woodhead, CEO of Hermes in the UK, said: “We are continually looking for like-mindedcompanies such as HubEurope to develop partnership opportunities that will ultimately provide valueto high street, catalogue and Internet retailers. By teaming up with HubEurope, retailers andfulfilment houses based in Jersey can now take advantage of our courier network, which combines aquality doorstep delivery, with a friendly and local approach.”
HubEurope was recently awarded a licence by the Jersey competition Regulatory Authority for theprovision of postal services to the island. The licence allows the company to deliver postalservices to the fulfilment sector, starting with the packet market this year and large letters fromJanuary 2012.
