A major New Zealand delivery service is celebrating 35 years.
Fastway Couriers is marking the milestone at its two-day annual conference in Nelson which winds up today.
The company was founded by Bill McGowan with a single van in the Hawke’s Bay in 1983.
Fastway Couriers chief executive Scott Jenyns says the businesses has come a long way from “one man in a van” to a global franchise with 63 regional depots and 1700 franchisees in New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and South Africa, 2,200 Pracel Connect agents and handling over 40 million deliveries annually.
In New Zealand there are 17 regional franchisees with over 250 courier franchisees from Cape Reinga to Bluff.
Jenyns says the rise of online shopping has transformed the industry from large commercial deliveries to around 80% of its service now delivering small packages to residential properties.
The trend has seen parcel movements rise year-on-year by 10% with online transaction between buyers and sellers.
“The parcel and delivery industry has changed dramatically over the past 35 years. The first Fastway van in New Zealand distributed in a world pre-smartphone technology and internet, in a market made up predominately of business-to-business customers,” he says.
The company is run as a franchise model which gives it a “point of difference” from other major competitors, Jenyns says.
“We get a real kick out of seeing the franchisees embrace our model and be true courier experts in their local markets.”
