Companies can make savings and receive a more personal service from courier firms.

Businesses should explore Post Office alternatives when deciding on their parcel delivery needs as these can be both cheaper and offer a more personalised service, it has been claimed.

Sandra Patterson, managing director at Boxby, writes in Realbusiness.co.uk that Royal Mail is "a huge elephant of a company" and it has little concern for individual deliveries, driven instead by national targets.

The advantage of using Post Office alternatives is that they are commercial entities which take much greater care of customers and their parcel delivery needs.

"When you deal with one of the commercial parcel companies, you are back in the commercial world - line managers are assessed on the service that they provide you," Ms Patterson claims.

She adds that it is foolish to assume that Royal Mail is always the cheapest option when it comes to sending small parcels, as many courier services can provide guaranteed delivery assurances at the same price or less.

Centro, the West Midlands integrated Transport Authority, recently put out a tender for a private delivery firm to take care of its parcel delivery needs for an initial two-year period.

Written by Laura Rathbone


Article Added: 17/11/2009 09:27:17