DX, which made its name delivering legal documentation, has acquired two delivery businesses in Scotland in a deal worth £3.25m.
One of the acquired businesses is Legal Post, which provides a document exchange and postal service in Scotland, delivering legal documentation quickly and efficiently – reminiscent of DX’s historical core service.
The other is First Post, which operates a downstream access mail service in Scotland offering an alternative to Royal Mail’s first and second class services.
Both were acquired from First Scottish and the deal is expected to be completed later this month, whereupon the two will be merged into DX Exchange’s operations in Livingston. First Scottish is located around 30 miles away, across the Firth of Forth, in Fife.
DX is no stranger to acquisition, having snapped up around £1m of assets from the collapsed City Link in early 2015.
It is also preparing to take on two-man delivery on behalf of IKEA when its latest store opens in Reading this summer.
Petar Cvetkovic, CEO of DX, said the Scottish acquisitions would enhance the firm’s customer offering. “These businesses are wholly complementary to DX’s operations in Scotland and they will be stronger together for both sets of customers, increasing the number of members in a single Scottish exchange network and providing Legal Post’s members with access to DX’s existing members in the UK and Ireland.
“The enlarged operation in Scotland will enable significant efficiencies that will enhance the economic life of a bespoke mail service that is highly valued by its professional services members for its reliable early delivery and late collection times, whilst also offering a cost effective solution.”
Expanding its service across the whole of the UK, on the Dot – the super-fast delivery provider from CitySprint, that was launched in June last year – has announced it is now available to retailers nationwide.
The on the Dot platform makes one-hour delivery time slots visible to both retailers and shoppers based on factors such as customer and store locations.
Patrick Gallagher, CEO of CitySprint, said: “The old model of deliveries on retailers’ terms is dead and gone. In today’s world, convenience trumps speed when it comes to buying online or in-store. This is exactly why we developed On the dot, the only service of its kind, which allows us to use and manage delivery capacity in a whole new way. Thanks to its technology, retailers now have access to incredible convenience at a reasonable cost.”