As part of its wider strategy to access the e-commerce delivery market, Menzies Distribution has bought Thistle Couriers of Aberdeen. The international logistics company has bought two other courier companies, AJG Parcels and Oban Express in the last twelve months as part of this strategy.
Thistle Couriers, which was founded in 1998, provides a UK-wide same-day service and delivers around 1,000 parcels overnight every day of the week. The company also makes 450 parcel collections every day with its 45 staff and fleet of 25 vehicles, reaching Aberdeen and the wider Grampian region.
Mark Cassie, Managing Director of Menzies Distribution, said: “The purchase of Thistle Couriers strengthens the infrastructure we’ve built with the acquisitions of AJG and Oban Express, and adds a time-critical, same-day service to our portfolio.
“With our existing geographical reach, especially in harder to access towns, we are able to deliver further and wider than many other players operating within this market – and I think this latest acquisition underlines our appeal to companies seeking cost-efficient deliveries to the North of Scotland. We believe that we can offer a compelling partnership proposition to the UK’s major parcel carriers.”
Anabela and Ewan Ferguson of Thistle Couriers, said: “This was a great move for us, and for our people. We’ve been warmly welcomed into the Menzies family, and are excited to play our part in the future that Menzies Distribution are building within the Scottish parcel industry.”
Menzies Distribution is one of many larger companies using acquisition as a tool to access the e-commerce delivery market, that is growing very quickly and is seen as a good bet for profitability where other, mature markets cannot achieve growth at anything approaching similar rates.