So, to what extent is the 3PL an oligopolistic market? Table 21.2 shows the top
10 providers in the UK market in 2003–04 (Motor Transport, 2004). As indicated,
Table 21.2 incorporates Exel’s acquisition of Tibbett and Britten; it also
includes Wincanton’s purchase of P and O Trans European. Exel had an estimated
turnover of over four times that of its leading rival and was substantially
greater than any of the remaining 3PLs shown in the table. This former
state-owned business has more than maintained its pole position following its
privatization in 1981.
Tibbett and Britten was perceived as the rising star of the 1990s. Prior to the
Exel takeover, its turnover had increased tenfold since 1990. It had also led the
way amongst 3PLs in establishing a strong foothold in intermodal distribution,
both for international and for domestic movements, and in the way it
had tackled the challenge of providing 3PL services to clients in the emerging
Central and Eastern European markets.
Wincanton, unlike Exel and Tibbett and Britten, has traditionally concentrated
its growth in the domestic market. Its acquisition of P and O Trans
European was its first successful venture into the wider European market.
Equally, there have been casualties. TDG, for example, has lost market share
as the market has grown and, in late 2005, TNT announced that its logistics
business was to be sold in order to allow it to concentrate its business activities
on its mail and courier/express services. Although the reasons behind these