UK Enterprise Awards 2021

22 | UK Enterprise Awards 2021 May21158 Most Trusted Courier Service – North West England Established in 1994, Mail Box Express works for various industries with a strong presence in the legal and medical fields. It is trusted to deliver confidential life or death consignments for the NHS and papers for high profile court cases 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Its clients demand a complete audit trail from booking to delivery, every step in the delivery process to be recorded, providing a chain of custody. Mail Box Express works around the client, not the other way around. Its bespoke services allow clients to book a parcel for collection as late as 6pm. It also offers pre-7am, pre-9am, pre-10:30am, pre-noon and pre-4pm options for next day deliveries, and in most cities, it offers 20-minute collection for same day deliveries. All same day deliveries are driven directly to the delivery point; the courier never consolidates same day consignments. Mail Box Express views every consignment as a high consequence delivery, which means if the consignment is late, then there is a consequence – a missed court time or financial penalty. It understands its clients’ industries and what they require of a courier service. Local knowledge at management level is key to keeping clients happy and understanding the culture of those using the courier’s services. People use a courier because it’s urgent or last minute and being local in each city centre is key to attaining its 20-minute collection for same day deliveries. Also, having local drivers who know the road network and can get around roadworks and hold-ups keeps it ahead of the competition. In terms of nurturing its staff, Mail Box Express has a bespoke online training platform which provides everything from onboarding inductions to mental health tools and practitioner pathways. The company also has a wellness coach who visits its offices and can provide personal training sessions, in addition to offering its staff mindfulness courses at the local Buddhist centre. When you are dealing with high consequence deliveries all day, being able to relax and unwind is vital. The company also encourages staff to take time away from their desks at lunch so they can go for a walk or do something completely different, and it provides subsidised meals from a company called Lean Lunch; these nutritionally balanced meals are a great way to introduce team members to new tastes and ingredients. Working from home has been a massive challenge for Mail Box Express’ clients, so it quickly helped them get vital IT equipment and office furniture to their team members. It has “Mail Box Express works around the client, not the other way around. Its bespoke services allow clients to book a parcel for collection as late as 6pm. It also offers pre- 7am, pre-9am, pre- 10:30am, pre-noon and pre-4pm options for next day deliveries, and in most cities, it offers 20-minute collection for same day deliveries.” since continued this support, helping onboarding teams get kit to new starters and collecting the same kit from those leaving a company. Most of these deliveries require the courier to provide packing material and to clean items before delivering them back to the client. Same day delivery of the latest self-administered COVID test is also available, allowing clients to get results within hours so they know if they need to send a team home. Mail Box Express is expanding into new cities, with plans for three new depots by the end of the year. It will be observing how the workflow changes; pre-COVID, it delivered 90% of its consignments to business addresses, while today, it’s the other way around. In the first lockdown, it endured a 40% volume reduction in parcels, with 35% of clients stopping trading; if they all survive, Mail Box Express will be back to full capacity. However, many firms have seen a massive surge towards digital from written records – work which will never return to the courier market. The silver lining is the benefits for the environment. The biggest goal for Mail Box Express in 2021 is to become carbon neutral. It hopes to do this by working with the Woodland Trust to plant trees to offset the usage of diesel cans on longer journeys, and it has bought more electric vehicles this year, making 10 years in a row of using electric vans. Company: Mail Box Express Contact: Darren Shaw Email: [email protected] Website: www.mailboxexpress.co.uk