In line with its declared mission to double the size of its business within five years, The Mailing Room (TMR) has acquired another regional franking machine specialist, MailServe of Haywards Heath, West Sussex, and its sister company Monsters Ink. This follows last year’s acquisition of Mailing Systems Limited of Weston-super-Mare, adding a further 700 customer accounts to its growing portfolio. TMR is already recognised as the leading independent UK distributor of Pitney Bowes equipment and is currently making strides in the development of parcel shipping technology and advanced mailroom software solutions, to meet market needs.
The MailServe deal covers the current assets and ongoing interests of a Royal Mail-approved post room equipment specialist, renowned for first-class levels of customer service. Under the arrangement, previous owner Carl Turner will remain as a Senior Account Manager, along with a number of other sales and service personnel. This strategic purchase extends TMR’s geographic presence along the M3 corridor, bringing the operational benefits of advanced mailroom technologies to thriving organisations in that area and beyond.
“We will bring the same degree of professional customer service to existing MailServe accounts, combined with the added financial strength and comprehensive service provision of a mature market leader,”
says TMR Group Managing Director, Ian Davidson, a former President of Mailing Solutions Europe for Pitney Bowes.
“In addition to offering a comprehensive range of Mailmark-compliant franking machines, ancillary mailroom equipment and keenly-priced inks and consumables, we will advise our new and current clients on multi-channel workflow systems and online shipping solutions to meet their current and future mailroom needs.”
TMR is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary, starting out as an approved supplier to the public sector and later diversifying into the private and voluntary sectors, dealing with more than 7,000 client organisations over the years. From its headquarters in Bury, Greater Manchester, it employs upwards of 60 experienced personnel, divided between head office support staff and a nationwide team of customer account managers and fully-trained field engineers, providing a comprehensive resource for technical support, online machine diagnostics, consumables sales and next-day repair and maintenance. As a fully-approved Royal Mail maintainer of franking machines, it is able to install and service its own manifest of equipment and carry out routine upgrades, without relying upon third parties.
The Mailing Room range of franking equipment meets most operational and budget requirements, covering customers who send 5 to 5,000 items per day, as well as sophisticated folder-inserter machines for mass mailings and ancillary equipment like postal scales, automated letter openers, document shredders and X-ray mail scanners for vetting incoming post and parcels.
“Letter volumes may be in slight decline due to electronic substitution, but there is plenty of growth potential in business-to-consumer and business-to-business communications, made attractive by the significant discounts our customers receive for franking their mail as opposed to using stamps. The growth in the packet and parcels market also provides opportunities for TMR, helping our customers with new technology and solutions to improve efficiency and capture additional savings, as a result of a changing postal and shipping environment,”
concludes Ian.
TMR’s acquisition of the two MailServe businesses was supported by Jean Bevan, head of Bevan Kidwell’s Corporate Commercial Department, and John Gillibrand and Nick Wyatt from the Manchester office of RSM, Consulting and Corporate Advice Firm of the Year in the latest AltFi awards.
MailServe’s customer database and financial records are being integrated into the central TMR system at Bury, to ensure that technical, after-care and consumables needs are met seamlessly. If last year’s smooth incorporation of the Mailing Systems business is any guide, this procedure should be trouble-free, with maximum account retention.
Further enquiries to The Mailing Room, Southerly 7, Waterfold Business Park, Bury, Greater Manchester BL9 7BR, telephone 0800 0192 033.