ECourier
Company typePrivate
IndustryLogistics
GenreCorporate Histories
FoundedLondon, United Kingdom (2003 (2003))
FounderTom Allason
Jay Bregman
Headquarters
London
ServicesSame day courier services
Number of employees
230
Websiteecourier.co.uk

eCourier is a courier service based in the United Kingdom.

Courier positions are tracked by GPS and an intelligent dispatch system assigns orders via GPRS, improving efficiency in a traditional industry.[1] A computer algorithm distributes orders to couriers in real time based on location, traffic, weather and demand. The algorithm was developed by a team of academics in Italy.[2]

The company stores the historical GPS positions of its couriers, and uploads this information to OpenStreetMap.[3] This information is also offered to the public via an API under a Creative Commons license. As of October 2008, their data set included over 252 million historical positions.[4]

The company was founded by Tom Allason and Jay Bregman, after event tickets were lost by a motorcycle courier.[5] The business won Allason recognition as a Growing Business Top Gun 2007, and Bregman from the British Computer Society as 2005 IT Director of the Year.[6][7]

Investors in the company include Esther Dyson and Stuart Wheeler. Venture Capital firm Logispring also owned a minority stake in the company.[8] In 2007, the company won the Evening Standard’s Most Inspirational Business award.[9] In 2008, Allason left the company to pursue a new venture.[10] and the following year, launched Shutl.[11]

In 2009, eCourier reached 6 on Deloitte’s list of UK’s 50 Fastest Growing Technology Businesses.[12] and #53 on The Sunday Times Tech Track list of Britain's fastest growing private technology companies.[13] In November 2015, eCourier was acquired by Royal Mail, and now has one of the largest and most recognisable courier fleets in London and the South.[14]

References

  1. ^ Michael Trick's Operations Research Blog, 23 June 2006, http://mat.tepper.cmu.edu/blog/?p=81. See also articles from The Economist and Financial Times.
  2. ^ Real-Time Fleet Management At Ecourier Ltd http://www.springerlink.com/content/v41525296n068264/[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ Partners - OpenStreetMap https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Partners
  4. ^ eCourier Location API http://api.ecourier.co.uk/
  5. ^ Moules, Jonathan: Couriers Have High-Speed Connection, Financial Times, 18 March 2006
  6. ^ Award http://www.growingbusiness.co.uk/06959143451303647930/young-guns-2007.html Archived 28 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Medallists of the Individual Excellence Awards 2005
  8. ^ "eCourier - Parcel Delivery in Color" Alarm Clock, 18 October 2006, available at http://www.thealarmclock.com/euro/archives/2006/10/ecourier_parcel_deli.html Archived 6 January 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "The Winner: eCourier", Evening Standard, 2007 http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/itsyourbusiness/article-23383010-details/The+winner:+eCourier/article.do
  10. ^ "eCourier.co.uk Founder Leaves to Pursue New venture" Press Release, 2008 [1] Archived 9 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Graham Charlton (9 December 2009). "Q&A: Tom Allason on e-commerce delivery startup Shutl". Econsultancy. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  12. ^ "Winners List 2009", Deloitte, 2009 Archived 16 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^ "Britain's fastest-growing private technology companies", Sunday Times, 2009 [2]
  14. ^ "Royal Mail acquires same day delivery company eCourier". Ecommerce News. 19 November 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
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