Fastway Couriers | |
Formerly | HB Couriers |
Company type | Private |
Industry | Courier |
Founded | 1983 |
Founder | Bill McGowan[1] |
Area served | Ireland South Africa |
Brands | Parcel Connect |
Website | www.fastway.org |
Fastway Couriers (formerly trading as HB Couriers[2]) is a courier delivery services company founded in Napier, New Zealand.[3] At the peak of its service, Fastway operated delivery services in New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and South Africa.[4] The company currently operates in Ireland and South Africa.[5]
The company has operated using a franchise model since 1983,[6] with franchising at the regional and courier level; regional franchises are responsible for managing the sales support and depots facilities in their region, while each courier franchise manages a courier route. Each country with Fastway operations also has a master franchisee, who is responsible for providing the money needed to established Fastway operations, and managing the inter-city transportation of parcels.[7] Fastway Global LTD owns the Fastway branding and provides initial training to the Fastway master franchisee of each country.[8]
Fastway Global LTD also owns the Parcel Connect branding - a booking platform for Fastway Services targeted as consumers.[9] Parcel Connect currently operates in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland.[10][11][12]
In 2016, the companies New Zealand, and Australia operations and all associated assets (including domains, contracts and depots,) were acquired by Aramex.[13][14] As part of the acquisition by Aramex, most Fastway operations have been rebranded to Aramex in Australia and New Zealand.[15] Branding of Fastway remained unchanged in other countries.
In 2022, London private equity company Elysian Capital took ownership of Fastway's Irish operations, becoming Ireland's Master Franchisee.[16] In early 2023, South African logistics company City Logistics and Clearwater Capital partnered to purchase the existing Master Franchisee rights in South Africa.[17][18]