Former Hawke's Bay company Fastway Couriers changes its name and brand to Aramex

Fastway New Zealand chief executive Scott Jenyns with the company's newly branded vans. Photo / Supplied

Fastway Couriers, one of New Zealand's oldest courier businesses, is adopting the brand name of its international parent company Aramex.

Established in Hawke's Bay in 1983 by Bill McGowan, Fastway Couriers New Zealand has 18 regional franchisees with more than 250 courier franchisees from the Far North District to Bluff in the South Island.

Aramex, a Dubai-based logistics group bought Fastway Couriers New Zealand in January 2016 for $125 million.

Aramex has a presence in 72 countries, transporting nearly 70 million parcels globally each year.

Fastway Couriers NZ chief executive Scott Jenyns said the time was right to adopt the Aramex name with the significant rise in the parcel movements across the globe due to the explosion in e-commerce retail shopping and new technology advanced products.

"We are retaining our unique franchise business model but are gaining a global mindset with access to new innovations, new technologies and new shipping destinations.

"The parcel and delivery industry has changed dramatically over the past 35 years, which started as a business to business offering but today over 80 per cent of parcel movements are smaller than 3kg and delivered to residential properties due to online retail."

Jenyns said the brand roll out will take approximately three months to complete and includes rebranding all nationwide offices and depots, more than 300 courier vehicles and new uniforms for more than 500 employed and engaged with the company.

"The change is about improving how we move parcels. We can leverage off Aramex's global footprint in New Zealand and introduce new products and services to build a bigger, stronger business in New Zealand and grow our franchisees in the process," Jenyns said.

"We'll still be local franchisees, in local regions, and this is very important to us as franchising remains in our DNA. The key point of difference is that now we'll be able to offer greater global reach and opportunities to our customers and our people through career advancement opportunities."