VMEX TO BE LAUNCHED ACROSS EUROPE

10 February 2006

A company which has revolutionised vehicle logistics for many UK companies is using its commercial success here as a springboard into mainland Europe – and says it will extend operations in Spain and Germany before the end of the year.

VMEX, part of the AutoLogic Group, has grown significantly since its UK launch in June 2005 and already has a significant Europe-wide presence.

Tim Phillips VMEX’s UK General Manager, said: “We will use the contacts and resources of our parent company to pursue a rapid, yet low-risk European expansion programme. The first step was to open a centre at Zeebrugge, which is now fully operational and the next step is the appointment of Nigel Bason as General Manager of Continental Operations.”

VMEX has broken the traditional pattern of vehicle logistics by using a web-based strategy to match the transport needs of its clients with the combined, UK-wide resources of over 80 approved transporter companies and owner-operators.

The company claims that within six weeks of its launch, in June 2005, it was saving 100 truck journeys per week – a figure which, it says, has now nearly doubled.

VMEX stands for Vehicle Movement Exchange, and the heart of the system is a real-time, online exchange that allows automotive industry customers to link-up with approved transporter companies, and owner operators, with spare capacity on their trucks. As a result, operators do fewer empty return journeys, the customers receive a highly cost-effective service, and the industry as a whole operates more efficiently.

The service is ideally suited to the transport needs of car rental/fleet companies, dealers, importers, OEMs and logistics operations.

Nigel Bason, General Manager of Continental Operations for VMEX, says that in the UK, an average of 3,000 cars are now being moved per week. “Before the creation of VMEX, most of these would have needed to be carried by their own dedicated truck, instead of which, they were all carried on the spare capacity of trucks that were on the road anyway.”

Mr Bason says that the system offers a cost-effective and environmentally friendly solution for automotive companies which are facing some tough trading conditions. The company’s European capability is expected to be particularly attractive to firms requiring cross-border operations, and involved in the movement of cars into Central and Eastern Europe and further afield.

Customers can register at www.vmex.com, or by phoning 0870 240 9016.