Yodel reassure industry after talks of administration

The carrier industry in the UK is going through a period of financial instability. This is evident with the recent sale of Sorted for £66.73 (along with £4m of debt) in a reverse takeover deal. Additionally, DespatchBay and Menzies have already stopped their operations, and the news reports suggest that Yodel's future is uncertain.

It's not common for transportation companies to completely fail – when CityLink went bankrupt on Christmas Day in 2014, it was a huge surprise for the industry. In early summer 2023, Tuffnells also failed. While Sorted and DespatchBay were not carriers themselves but consolidators, Menzies was a carrier that may not be familiar to you. They were responsible for delivering goods to the Scottish Highlands and Islands on behalf of other big-name carriers like DPD.

This Wednesday, there were reports in The Telegraph that Yodel is getting ready to seek help from administrators if they can't secure a buyer. It was also reported that The Delivery Group made a bid, but then withdrew it. According to The Telegraph, Yodel has enough money to pay their delivery drivers in the upcoming week, but they might struggle to cover expenses in the future.

After the reports were released, Mike Hancox, the CEO of Yodel, reportedly provided reassurance to the industry by stating, "We want to confirm that Yodel is presently examining various options for strategic development. These options have been presented to us, and we have engaged Clearwater International as advisors since last summer."

Mike mentioned that Yodel has not assigned any administrators and has no plans to do so. Furthermore, he stated that the executive team is firmly dedicated to ensuring the business's growth continues without interruption.

Yodel has experienced a great deal of success in recent times, delivering a whopping 191 million packages in the prior year and experiencing a 3.4% increase in revenues through to December 2023. Furthermore, their out-of-house network has seen a surge in popularity for consumer-to-consumer services, resulting in a doubling of the parcel volumes.

At ChannelX, we're passionate about Yodel. Back in the day, before they merged with HDN network, Yodel's services were downright awful. However, now they're as trustworthy as the sun rising every morning. Yodel offers an array of conveniences that we can rely on, including delivery notifications and time slots, and tracking that guarantees successful deliveries.

Throughout their existence, Yodel has dedicated a considerable amount of effort to their operations, and it has yielded notable results. Despite negative evaluations from certain organizations like Citizens Advice, Yodel has managed to maintain a TrustPilot rating of 4.1. Although they fall slightly behind top-rated delivery companies DPD (4.5) and Evri (4.2), they outperform competitors such as Royal Mail (2.9) and Parcelforce (3.3) by a significant margin.

Although Yodel's communication aims to calm down people, there is no need to worry if something unfortunate occurs, like Yodel being bought, separated, or stopping operations altogether, as there are other carriers in the industry that can take on most of their workload. Nonetheless, Yodel is an expert in handling challenging deals such as transporting wine club subscriptions, delivering flower arrangements, and transporting larger-than-normal products. Companies that work in these areas might face difficulties in quickly finding other carriers to take on their shipments.

There's no need to panic at the moment, but as there's uncertainty about Yodel's future in the long run, it's a good idea to review your carrier options. Make sure you have alternate carriers lined up, so if any of them face challenges, you can easily switch traffic to another one.