LOGISTICS company Amtrak Express Parcels in Leeds has been taken over by a well known family business team.
Brother and sister Francis and Julie Smith, who ran local breakdown company Wykebeck Recovery before selling it in 2002, have been appointed as new owners of Amtrak's Leeds business in a major franchise deal.
Award
The Smiths have major growth pla
ns for the business, which is part of the UK's fastest expanding parcel delivery companies that was recently voted Parcel Carrier of the Year.
An increasingly common sight in Leeds, Amtrak's vans collect and deliver goods such as Comet's electrical goods to Laura Ashley's furnishings on fast, next day services.
A key part of the new management's plans involve the use of new web technology called NetDespatch that eliminates lengthy booking procedures and allows consignments to be tracked on the web.
"We end up collecting all sorts of weird and wonderful items from designer shoes, to prosthetic limbs and even homing pigeons that never made it home," said owner Francis Smith.
"It is all arranged on the web so there is no paperwork and customers can check on the in-transit status from their own PC, anytime day or night."
The brother and sister team have been recently been joined by another family member, Suzanna Smith who is the wife of Francis and an experienced sales and marketing professional.
"I am sure our customers will be seeing much more of Suzanna than I will," said husband Francis. "We took on this venture because Amtrak offered what we see as the best quality and best run parcel firm in the market and with Leeds becoming such a vibrant business centre.
Potential
"We see enormous potential for the increasing number of companies that need fast and reliable next day delivery services."
