AMS UK & Worldwide Couriers was founded in 1990 by three friends – Andy Stanton, Mark Catesby and Steve Prictoe. Their mission was to provide a personal, reliable, fast and cost-effective collection and delivery service, principally to the people and businesses of Newbury and surrounding districts.
Mark and Steve left the business in 1994. Andy was then joined by his wife, Alison, in 2003 and they have run the business together ever since.
On April 1 this year, AMS celebrated its 30th year in business, a milestone which is a testament to the personal and reliable services the team are consistently able to provide.
In an industry where you are only as good as your last delivery, it is impressive that many customers from AMS’ early days still work with it today, alongside a growing number of new, loyal clients.
Andy explains: “The service we deliver inspires loyalty. We are very proud of the fact that five of the first 10 companies who booked a job with AMS back in 1990, including Vodafone, still use us – the rest have either moved out of the area or no longer exist.’’
Alison says: “We recognise that ultimately our service and reputation can only be as good as the people who represent us and we place a high priority on the quality of our drivers, who are loyal, flexible and also committed to AMS’ customer service values.
“Many of our drivers have been with us for 10 years – some as many as 25.
“This means they are polite, trustworthy, reliable and knowledgeable with regards to the geography of the country and the back roads of Berkshire in particular.”
The company has carved a niche for itself transporting urgent and vital consignments throughout the UK and overseas.
It prides itself on delivering fragile, often valuable packages, with care and respect.
Alison says: ‘‘Flexibility is key and one example of how we tailor our service to meet the needs of our customers is a recent delivery we made of an expensive piece of jewellery.
“Our driver had to pick it up from a store in London, board a plane to Bucharest and hand deliver it to the customer who met our driver at the airport.
“So we can be as bespoke as you like.”
Andy says: “Absolutely our core business is about getting urgent and precious letters, parcels and goods from A to B quickly and safely the same day.
“We have special rates into London and one of our key services is to deliver to the capital within three hours.
“However, we also deliver to all worldwide destinations.
“Our Express International Courier Service will deliver your consignment the next day to all major European cities and the US, via our partnership with a long-established air freight company at Heathrow.
“Delivery to all other worldwide destinations normally takes two to four days, depending on the destination and customs
clearance procedures.
“Our Dedicated European Service is the alternative means of transporting goods overseas.
“Using an AMS dedicated vehicle, we can deliver anything from a small package to a large vanload of equipment directly to anywhere in Europe.
“For larger consignments in particular, it can often be more cost-effective to use a dedicated AMS vehicle than transporting goods using air or sea freight – and you get the personal touch too.”
Andy explains the services AMS provides: “We specialise in bespoke, personal, door to door deliveries throughout the UK.
“We offer dedicated international deliveries.
“Our Urgent Passport/Visa Application Service is unique.
“We can store, distribute, setup and dismantle exhibition stands in the UK and Europe.
“We are flexible and adaptable to suit the needs of our customers.
“We are careful and do our best to guarantee the safe delivery of even the most fragile of goods such as wine, china and antiques.”
AMS provides a unique service to those who have to quickly acquire a visa or get a passport renewed.
Alison explains: “Our objective is to take the headache out of the application process by advising on application form completion, much like the Post Office checks your passport application, and getting the documentation processed and back to you within 24 hours, or as quickly as the process for a particular embassy will allow.
“Something we originally did to help out Vodafone has now become a specialist service of ours and is proving popular with those companies that have to send staff overseas at short notice.
“We provide a same day turn around service where the embassies will allow it, otherwise we can usually get visas returned within two or three days.
“We are confident we can better the turnaround time provided by CIBT and other visa agencies.”
Another area of growth for the courier firm has been its Event/Exhibition Assistance Service.
AMS can offer more than simply the delivery of exhibition stands to a hotel or conference centre.
It can also set up a stand at a venue in time for an event, then dismantle it afterwards and transport it safely home or to its next destination if required.
AMS has been at the forefront of first-class delivery work for the last 30 years and continues to go from strength to strength.
Tel: (01635) 278178
Email: [email protected]
