Leading consumer delivery company Hermes UK has appointed a Chief Operating Officer (COO) in a move designed to support its operations following significant increase in volumes, due to both Covid-19 and the ongoing growth of online shopping. This will also support the business in moving forward with its ambitious growth plans following multimillion-pound investment.
Carl Lyon will take on the role of COO having been with the business for over 7 years in a number of senior operational roles, including most recently Operations Director– Delivery Experience. He has been a member of the Hermes UK main board for three years and has successfully developed its delivery model with the introduction of industry leading technology and the launch of SE+ – a new model for Hermes’ network of self-employed couriers. Carl has also helped to create Hermes’ unique ParcelShop and locker network – the largest in the country for parcel volume. Prior to this, he held a number of roles at Christian Salvesen, TNT Post and Post NL.
“Over the last few months our business has grown beyond what any of us could have predicted or planned. We have responded to this growth by fast-tracking our capacity build programme with a multimillion-pound investment in our infrastructure, systems and people. Carl’s new appointment will enable him to support this moving forward by utilising his experience and knowledge across all of our business including our hubs and depots network. In addition, he is also leading our customer service transformation initiative,” said Martijn de Lange, CEO at Hermes UK.
It follows the recent announcement that Hermes UK, is to benefit from a significant investment by Advent International (‘Advent’), one of the largest and most experienced global private equity firms. Under the terms of the deal, Advent will partner with the current management team to acquire a 75% stake in Hermes UK and Otto Group will continue to own 25% of the company. The transaction will facilitate further investment by Hermes in technology and infrastructure and support the future growth of the business in the rapidly growing parcel delivery sector. The management of Hermes UK will continue to lead the business as an independent company, with ‘business as usual’ for employees, suppliers and customers.
