IoC news

IoC news

Industry news of relevance to Fellows and Members

TfGM - Freight in Greater Manchester - compliance an impact - golden freight routes

Helen Smith head of freight for Transport for Greater Manchester hosted her national freight forum for Greater Manchester to a full house audience that included TNT, Tarmac, Adidas and Warburtons, Trafford teams, local councils mixed with academics.

Highways England talked data on the golden freight routes, IoC asked the Red Star rail question for consolidation.

LoCity talk was 1200 electric new vehicles last year, a small number in the pool of all vehicles but the growth graph was like a ski slope for Eddie the Eagle.

There was Manchester Mayor input for the forthcoming freight strategy, a great lunch and interactive afternoon workshops in a diary date not to be missed.

TfL announced today that they will not be renewing Uber's private hire operator's licence when it expires on 30 Sep 2017. They state that Uber's "approach and conduct" lack corporate responsibility "in relation to a number of issues which have potential public safety and security implications".

TfL's concerns centre on Uber's alleged failures in regard to reporting serious criminal offences, obtaining medical certificates, performing DBS checks and active avoidance of regulatory oversight as a consequence of deployment of Greyball - an internal Uber software system first reported by the NY Times.

Uber says it has over 40,000 drivers registered with the app-based ride company in the London area.

Uber will have 21 days to appeal the decision.

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan said

I fully support TfL's decision - it would be wrong if TfL continued to licence Uber if there is any way that this could pose a threat to Londoners' safety and security.

Akabo Media organised the two-day multi-channel conference at the Connaught Rooms London WC1 as a strong retail mix to final mile logistics that was a diary must-do in the heart of London.

Dr Jonathan Gorst Sheffield Hallam University and return logistics expert chaired, opening speech by Ben Farrell, head of operations at John Lewis, ‘How to manage omni-channel from single channel, asymmetric retail and the customer experience.

IoC chair Carl Lomas followed, ‘measures to consider for retail deliveries’

Body Shop supply chain manager Simon Pattenden spoke on benefits of automation, Vinesh Patel, Sky covered the formula for better returns.

A host of network opportunities and panel discussions were then expertly orchestrated by Jonathan Gorst where retail met logistics to form next-generation solutions to final-mile.

 

Sunshine record for Heathrow cargo

Air freight numbers on record growth in both UK logistics hot-spots Heathrow and East Midlands.

A twelve month full year run of records at Heathrow as cargo goes up another 13%  for the month of August.

Logistics guests for Spitfire fly-past at Northolt HQ of British Forces Post Office, BFPO.

IoC were guests of the British Forces Post Office boss, full Colonel Andy Moffat at their RAF Northolt HQ location for the annual RAF flypast.

Logistics close-up view for a Spitfire fly-past. RAF Northolt, West London is the longest-serving RAF air base; active as an air base in World War Two and the Battle of Britain. Group Captain MHG Carver explained the history of the base and its London cover for the Battle of Britain.

 

A perfect visit between the September rain showers for the Royal Mail Museum at Mount Pleasant London WC1 which opened in July this year.

If you can't get there, take a look at the history book, ‘Masters of the Post'

 

September 1st news - Menzies Distribution deal to acquire Gnewt Cargo.

London-based Gnewt operated by IoC fellow Sam Clarke runs more than a hundred electric vehicles in the City of London from arches in SE1.

Gnewt, which was founded in 2008, provides final-mile delivery services in central London for retailers, e-tailers and parcel carriers such as Hermes and TNT.

Last year, it made over 3 million deliveries in London using the UK’s largest all-electric fleet of commercial vehicles.

 

A pre-peak commitment to client with 45% more parcel capacity on the Hermes network. Rugby looks set to raise the bar once more as e-retail takes further High Street numbers to home delivery.

Hermes UK boss, Carole Woodhead,

This is the largest parcel hub of its kind in the UK. We are extremely proud to officially open our Midlands super hub.

 

DHL is investing more than twenty million on three new sites - two are opening in November at Aberdeen and Milton Keynes, but the first is in October at Enfield.

Peter Fuller comments,

This investment in key sites is part of our strategic growth plan for the business. We’ve recently been awarded some major new contracts and we have ambitious targets to continue on this trajectory. To be successful we need to invest in the most effective infrastructure and equipment for our people to increase parcel handling capacity.

 

Bob Holt CEO DX hands over to Ron Series mid August.

In the same week, DX and John Menzies have terminated talks on merger. ‘It was not possible to agree suitable terms for the deal.’

DX shareholder Gatemore, Liad Meidar,

Bob Holt’s stewardship of the company throughout a challenging period and believe that the board arrived at the right conclusion with the Menzies transaction. We strongly believe that with leading positions in document exchange, secure delivery and IDW freight, DX is well positioned to thrive as a stand-alone basis.