Two big stories broke in the express parcels market as we were preparing the latest issue of F&E for press. UPS confirmed that wants to acquire TNT Express for an estimated 5.16 billion euros, and DX Group has already acquired Nightfreight for an undisclosed sum.

While the UPS-TNT deal is far larger on an absolute scale, both developments will have some impact on UK fulfilment and home delivery operations.

Even though neither UPS nor TNT has previously shown strong interest in the business-to-consumer parcels market, they both do this kind of work, and UPS in particular has quietly built up a discreet but substantial presence in the B2C sector. Its acquisition of the Kiala drop-off network underlines its interest.

In any case, in a parcels market that is seeing inexorable decline in traditional B2B work and growth in B2C work, it is hard to imagine any major player turning its back on opportunities in a sector that is flourishing.

When it comes to the DX-Nightfreight deal, home delivery comes to the fore. Although this has not been a forte of DX, it represents a big part of Nightfreight’s operations – especially its two-man delivery business. The addition of DX’s small parcel capability could strengthen the overall offer in the B2C sector, so long as DX can tackle integration issues effectively.

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House of Fraser has appointed Norbert Dentressangle its multi-channel fulfilment partner. It says the move is intended to support ambitious growth plans for the next five years. The operation will involve a core workforce of more than 200.

Dentressangle will be responsible for the management of House of Fraser’s 510,000 sq ft e-fulfilment site in Milton Keynes, where activities will include handling receipt of goods from House of Fraser’s national distribution centre, concession suppliers and inter-store transfers.

Other tasks include order picking, marshalling, packing, despatch and returns management. In total, the operation currently involves the handling of more than 140,000 stock-keeping units and several million items ordered per annum.

Dentressangle will also be responsible for the collating, picking and packing of orders for House of Fraser’s growing wedding gift list service.

Norbert Dentressangle is reported to have been chosen following a six-way competitive tender. According to Mark Holland, House of Fraser’s supply chain director: "Norbert came through a very exacting process and are here on merit."

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Mark & Spencer has launched a web presence for its M&S Outlet operation, and has used the Amazon Webstore eCommerce platform to set it up. It is also using Fulfilment by Amazon to handle deliveries.

The storefront has M&S Outlet branding, but also makes it clear to visitors that checkout and delivery are handled by Amazon. Customers with an existing Amazon account can use it to make purchases without having to register again with M&S Outlet.

Standard three- to five-day delivery costs £3.50, and "expedited delivery" (one to two days) costs £4.95. Amazon is also providing a full returns service.

M&S Outlet was launched in 2000, and now has 50 stores across the country, but the proposition has not been available online until now.

According to Richard Fox, head of M&S Outlet: "We’ve responded to our customers’ increased demand for online access to great value by extending our popular outlet offer on our web site – making it even easier for customers to treat themselves to the best of M&S at even better prices."

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City Link, the parcel carrier owned by Rentokil Initial, should be back in profit by the fourth quarter of the current year, and could have a turnover of £500 million within three years.

This is the vision of recently-recruited managing director David Smith, well known for his past roles at Parcelforce Worldwide and Royal Mail.

City Link is one of the foremost carriers in the home delivery market, and Smith says B2C activity will come to account for more than its current one third of the company’s business, though he points out that even B2C growth has recently slowed.

His aim, he says, is to offer a premium product with emphasis on customer service. With this in mind, the company has just spent £5 million on what it calls "cutting-edge" customer contact technology. While calls are handled locally, they are automatically "handed off" to neighbouring locations as necessary, and complaints are logged and monitored centrally.

Smith sees City Link’s pallet cages as a unique resource for keeping damage low, and says full RFID tracking is planned as a way to enhance consignment tracking further.

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Hermes, the home delivery specialist, has added eight double-deck trailers to its trunking fleet, and says it expects to save a remarkable £400,000 a year by this measure, at the same time as reducing its overall carbon footprint by up to 2 per cent.

The trailers have been built by Don-Bur, one of the longest-established manufacturers in the market. They are step-frame models with an adjustable-height hydraulically-lifting second deck, and have a capacity of up to 6,000 parcels each – around double that of a traditional trailer.

They are allocated to a customer site in Wath-on-Dearne in South Yorkshire. Because of the capacity increase, Hermes says a single articulated outfit will be able to handle daily deliveries from the site to around half of its depots, where previously it would have required two.

Chief executive Carole Woodhead says the company is now looking for opportunities for similar projects elsewhere in its trunking network.