 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Logistics |
| Genre | Corporate Histories |
| Founded | London, United Kingdom (2003) |
| Founder | Tom Allason Jay Bregman |
| Headquarters | |
| Services | Same day courier services |
Number of employees | 230 |
| Website | ecourier.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]