It has been agreed to sell our London and South East Courier Business to OCS, a long-standing and reputable, independent Courier company, based at Heathrow, with a worldwide network. Our decision to sell this element of our business has been based on our belief that our loyal clients and employees deserve to have stability and quality of service for a long time to come. Over the last few years, the marketplace has become more and more competitive and as a result of stagnant volumes and increased costs, we have become increasingly concerned. We reached the conclusion that we needed to find a like-minded company (a company who put personal service and quality of service at the top of the agenda) to take over our client base correctly and offer our staff long-term employment.
By agreeing to transfer this business to OCS, Seabourne is very comfortable and confident, that all of its loyal clients, will have a seamless transition over the coming weeks and months, and benefit strongly from OCS’ additional services and buying power. Under the leadership of the OCS Managing Director, Tim Jones, clients will continue to receive first class treatment. Furthermore, all of our loyal and trusted staff are transferring with the business, so all client relationships and communication will be preserved. This is something that Tim has emphasised throughout the negotiations.
OCS have been in the courier business as long as Seabourne, and as such share many of our service values and commitments. They have an excellent reputation and a host of household names as clients who have trusted them implicitly for many, many years with their valuable and sensitive documents and parcels. We are delighted that we have been able to reach an agreement with OCS.
What happens next?
As part of the transfer process, following the sale, OCS will assume total control for all courier requirements (i.e. quotations, bookings, collections, track and trace, invoicing etc.). Completion of the sale will take place on October 31st, 2013. In the period leading up to and including that date, Seabourne will continue to have total control and responsibility for all needs, whilst ensuring there is a smooth transition in readiness for the switch to OCS from November 1st 2013.
From a practical perspective, there is absolutely no need to do anything differently. Clients can still call the same telephone number(s), speak to the same people, book on our web booking system, track and trace via the same systems etc. For sure processes may change at some time in the future, but there is no immediate need to change anything.
Note:Express Tracking provide Seabourne Tracking service.