News / TDG expands e-commerce footprint with Onepost acquisition

The Delivery Group (TDG) has announced the acquisition of consolidation outfit Onepost, as it looks to consolidate its position in the ever-expanding e-commerce market.

The company said it had acquired 100% of Bristol-based Onepost for an undisclosed sum.

Chief executive Steve Stokes said: “We look forward to working with Onepost’s team to unlock the synergy benefits and to further develop our portfolio of services.

“And we welcome its employees in Portishead and Derby to The Delivery Group family and would like to stress it’s very much business as usual for stakeholders and service providers.”

The merged outfit expects to turn over £250m (US$330m) and employ 500 staff across seven locations, claiming it will manage nearly a billion items in the UK and overseas.

Onepost also has facilities in London, Luton, Maidstone and Warrington.

Co-founder of Onepost Graham Cooper said: “The Delivery Group clearly identified the quality of our service, our staff and complementary focus on direct and marketing mail.

“We in turn have been impressed with its commitment to people, partnerships and service performance.”

Despite being a decade younger than Onepost, TDG has undergone rapid growth since launching in 2015. Last year, current chief executive Steve Stokes and his partners at Next Wave bought the company, which also operates under the Secured Mail and CMS Network brands.

Group chairman Paul Carvell (pictured above) added: “Since the buy-out by Next Wave, we have actively pursued our strategy to expand our service range and geographical footprint. Onepost fits our plans perfectly, and further developments will be announced shortly as we look to be the one-stop shop in post, package and parcel distribution.”

TDG will also benefit from Onepost’s software systems that enable customers to accurately work out shipping options best-suited to their budget.

The firm’s decision to expand coincides with surging parcel volumes across the UK, which grew 11% between 2017 and 2018 to 2.4bn items, in turn pushing revenue up by some 5%.

But it is a market still dominated by formerly state-owned Royal Mail, which moves around 86% of all shipments, according to a report from Offcom.