2nd October 2009

HERMES OPENS NEW NATIONAL HUB TO DELIVER SERVICE BENEFIT TO CUSTOMERS

Hermes, the UK's largest courier home delivery network, has opened a new national hub at Bermuda Park in Nuneaton in a move designed to deliver key service benefits to UK customers. The strategically-located 85,000 sq ft facility will enable Hermes to enhance its service offering with the introduction of a new next-day service and increased parcel tracking capability. In addition, it will support the development of new home delivery solutions as part of the company's ongoing growth strategy in the UK and mainland Europe.

The national hub will handle in excess of 50 million parcels each year, which will be received and sorted for onward delivery to 19 depots across the UK. The facility will also manage the returns process and receive inbound traffic from continental Europe, as well as becoming the central hub for Hermes' national trunking operation, supported by an existing Northern hub in Bradford.

An automated sortation system has been installed to enhance productivity and reduce delivery lead times. Two shoe sorters driven by a bespoke warehouse management system will improve the accuracy and quality of the sortation, whilst providing added flexibility to handle operational peaks.

Five-way camera scanning technology, fitted to each sorter, provides the option to record picture images of all parcels, with a scanning accuracy of 99.6 per cent. This will allow Hermes to develop delivery solutions for higher value items. Meanwhile, the introduction of inbound, dispatch and returns scanning, linked to a recently-launched final mile mobile communications solution, will improve the quality of tracking information that Hermes can provide to its clients and their customers.

Carole Woodhead, CEO of Hermes in the UK commented: "The location of the national hub means we are best placed to offer the widest range of services in the shortest lead times to our clients. More than 85 per cent of the UK population can now be reached in a standard drivers working shift, so it enhances our ability to offer fast, flexible and efficient home delivery solutions.

The hub possesses the necessary capacity to meet our future growth plans and supports our ongoing commitment to invest in proven technology to meet the changing supply chain needs of catalogue, Internet and high-street retailers."

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