Lynx Express (stylised as Lynx Express) was a

courier A courier is a person or organization that delivers a message, package or letter from one place or person to another place or person. Typically, a courier provides their courier service on a commercial contract basis; however, some couriers are ...

(parcel delivery) company operating principally in the United Kingdom. It was acquired in July 2005 by UPS.

History

The company's history dates back to the

nationalisation Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with priv ...

of the

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

ways after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Each of the pre-nationalisation companies had formed a local delivery network, based on lorries and vans, to extend the railway to customers' doors, thus enabling parcels and light freight to be delivered in the control of the railway company. In 1955, these services were amalgamated to form a division of

British Road Services The National Freight Corporation was a major British transport business between 1948 and 2000. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and at one time, as NFC plc, was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The company was established ...

, known as BRS Parcels. Those amalgamated companies handling rail transport became known as National Carriers, while BRS Parcels became Roadline. In 1982, the Conservative Government led by

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...

privatised these services, making shares in the newly formed

National Freight Corporation The National Freight Corporation was a major British transport business between 1948 and 2000. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and at one time, as NFC plc, was a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The company was established ...

available to employees at a price that proved to undervalue the company when they were floated on the stock market. Two businesses, National Carriers and Roadline, subsequently merged and operated briefly under the name National Carriers Roadline before becoming Lynx Express Delivery Network. This remained the company's full title, although it was shortened in practice. Following a reorganisation, rationalisation of core business interests and rebranding exercise, National Freight Corporation, by this time shortened to NFC plc, merged with

Ocean Group plc Ocean Group plc was a major British transport business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History The company was founded by Alfred Holt and Philip Holt, as the ''Ocean Steamship Company' ...

and became known as Exel, and Lynx Express was seen as outside its main area of concentration. In 1997, Lynx Express Delivery Network was the subject of a management buyout from Exel and subsequently renamed Lynx Express. Lynx Express became majority owned by

Bridgepoint Capital Bridgepoint Group plc is a British private investment company listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History Bridgepoint was founded as NatWest Equity Partners, a private equity firm part of NatWest. On ...

. The company acquired

’s remaining local delivery asset,

Red Star Parcels Red Star Parcels was a railway-centric Registered mail, registered courier service owned and operated by British Rail. It used passenger trains for transporting parcels between passenger railway stations throughout the United Kingdom. Red Star ...

, in January 1999. In 2005, Lynx Express was acquired by UPS for £55.5 million (US$97.1 million). At the time, Lynx Express was one of the largest parcel carriers in the UK, with sales of $295 million (£170 million) for the financial year ending 2 October 2004. The company was subsequently integrated into UPS, and the Lynx brand disappeared.

References

External links

UPS press release on purchase
{{UPS Logistics companies of the United Kingdom Transport companies established in 1955 Transport companies disestablished in 2005 United Parcel Service 1955 establishments in the United Kingdom 2005 disestablishments in the United Kingdom 2005 mergers and acquisitions