Top industry figures and delegates from the UK and western Europe enjoyed some frank and open debate at this year’s Express Delivery Conference, held in Birmingham at the end of June. The key theme of Increasing Customer Choice enabled speakers and delegates to explore whether carriers were meeting the needs of their customers in an increasingly demanding and competitive environment – and the customers present weren’t shy in saying what they felt!

Setting the tone for the two-day event, Robin Parr-Davies, Express Director for organisers Triangle Management Services, reported on the previous evening’s Customer Forum. There was no doubt, he said, that “carriers need to be more open with customers, to communicate problem areas and, above all, be more pro-active when things go wrong”. The opportunities offered by, for example, text messaging, IT innovations and longer-term contracts were discussed, as were the possible benefits of a code of practice or kite-mark for carriers. Customers recognised the difficulties experienced by carriers through such factors as fuel costs and congestion charging, but expressed the wish that these could be discussed within the industry rather than having sudden price hikes imposed with little or no notice.

The growth of the Business-to-Consumer side of the industry and the different disciplines it demanded were also raised in the Customer Forum, and this was the topic of another packed session. There was a feeling that the requirements of Home Delivery were slowly being recognised by the industry, but that this should perhaps be the niche of a small number of specialists. Keith Greasley, Operations General Manager from JD Williams, for example, pointed out that retailers moving into online offerings for the first time were not necessarily themselves geared up correctly for order fulfilment, nor did they want to invest in the infrastructure needs, while the industry had little understanding of the nuances of B2C delivery requirements. B2C carriers would need to offer the right combination of convenience, speed and price to suit this fast-growing market; in particular, the importance of being able to predict (and keep to) delivery times outside the usual office-hours was a key customer expectation.

Of course, the price factor has not gone away, although it was noticeable that suppliers felt that customers saw price as more important than did the customers themselves. A number of speakers from the customer side, including Bob Evans from RS Components and Steven Mitchell, Group Procurement Manager for Novar ED & S, listed a wide range of factors which organisations such as theirs looked for in supplier selection. They felt that matters such as track and trace, good account management and an open attitude towards longer-term relationships were at least as important as price, while price stability played a key part in their relationships with their carriers.

By the end of the two days, there could be no doubt that both sides of the industry had a much clearer understanding of the concerns of the other. Outside the main conference hall, delegates and speakers had made good use of the networking opportunities offered by the cocktail party, gala dinner and refreshment sessions in the busy exhibition area. Many expressed their firm belief that their company would profit from what they had heard, and with well over 200 of the express industry’s high-level executive leaders and customers present, the UK Express Conference and Exhibition is now firmly established in the calendar.

The dates and venue for next year’s event will be announced shortly on www.triangle.eu.com.

• Notes for editors
  The UK Express Delivery Conference is organised and marketed by Triangle Management Services, and the 2005 event was the second in the series

• Exhibitor, speaker and delegate lists for the event are available from Triangle

• Triangle also runs the UK Mail Awards and The Mail Show in London every November, and World Mail & Express events around the globe

• Press delegates are welcome to attend all events

• For further information please contact Triangle on +44 (0)870 950 7900
   

Triangle Management Services Ltd, founded in 1984, is today the pre-eminent independent specialist management services company within the global mail, express and logistics sectors. Triangle offers the following services to clients: Recruitment, Market Research, Consultancy, Conferences and Mergers and Acquisitions - all of which are focussed primarily on the mail and express industry sectors.