eCourier
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
eCourier is a courier service based in the United Kingdom.
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Logistics |
Genre | Corporate Histories |
Founded | London, United Kingdom (2003 (2003)) |
Founder | Tom Allason Jay Bregman |
Headquarters | |
Services | Same day courier services |
Number of employees | 230 |
Website | ecourier.co.uk |
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]