The choice of parcels carrier is crucial to a growing export company’s success, becausecustomers see the carrier as an extension of the shipper’s business, according to stationery
supplies company SPC Verlag.The Huntingdon, UK-based company, which has been established for eight years, produces up to600,000 individual items each year for distribution across Germany. Operating from its UK base andexporting exclusively to Germany, SPC said it needed a carrier that it could rely on.
SPC said the delivery function was a direct reflection of its own customer service, and for abusiness that has consistently grown by 20% year on year, reputation was essential. “Our choice ofcarrier is so important to our business because our customers see them as being part of ouroperation. If they fail, it reflects badly on us,” commented SPC Sales Manager MaxieSchiffmann.
Having had a disastrous experience with its previous carrier, SPC took the decision twelvemonths ago to look for a new delivery partner. The company put the contract out to tender,and said it chose City Link on the basis of its apparent “flexibility and willingness to reallyunderstand SPC’s business”.
Schiffmann said the partnership with City Link had worked well, despite some challenging times.This flexibility and “willingness to go the extra mile” was put to the test last year when, due toan issue with a supplier, SPC had just two weeks to ship over 60,000 planners to 40schools.
To ensure deadlines were met, City Link arranged for a convoy of five vans a day to travel toGermany to ensure that consignments reached the schools on time. Schiffmann said: “It waslike a military operation – but it worked. When we were faced with a crisis, City Link reallycame to the fore, which is what a true partnership is all about.”
