Reverse logistics work to also to transfer from UTL over the next 12 months
Vodafone has awarded its multi-million pound repairs and reverse logistics contract to ANOVO following a competitive year-long tender, Mobile News understands.
ANOVO,which was acquired by Ingram Micro for a reported £80 million last year, is understood to have beaten rivals Brightstar, SBE and DHL to the lucrative deal.
UTL has managed the services for Vodafone for the past decade but work will be transferred over to ANOVO during the remainder of this year.
Vodafone is understood to receive around 3,000 faulty handsets a day, which are then collected and repaired at UTL’s 300,000 square foot site in Nuneaton before being dispatched.
No redundancies
Despite sources claiming that redundancies to UTL’s 300 staff are now likely, UTL has insisted they will remain unaffected and anyone working in this area will also have the opportunity to transfer to other parts of the business. UTL also has relationships with a number of other companies, including Three, Sky and Virgin Media.
Mobile News understands ANOVO, which has five hubs across the UK, will also now take over the running of a technical call centre on behalf of Vodafone, offering end user consumers, retail stores and business users, fault and repair diagnostics and returns avoidance, as well as returns queries.
The Vodafone contract win is likely to create a number of new job opportunities at ANOVO, a number described by industry sources as “significant”.
It also manages repair and reverse logistics for a number of other mobile customers, including O2, Samsung, HTC, Tesco, BT and TalkTalk. ANOVO and Vodafone both declined to comment.
Contract renewal
Vodafone has however renewed a partnership with UTL for a further three years, which will see it exclusively provide forward logistics and distribution services directly in the UK for the mobile operator, supplying retail stores, online, enterprise and consumer customers.
Customer service UTL said in a statement that the renewal came after Vodafone continued to recognise its strong customer focus and “innovation to deliver new market leading services”.
“UTL provides a range of services to Vodafone on an exclusive basis in the UK. These include forward logistics, distribution, repairs, returns and technical call centre operations.
“Vodafone, after 16 years of partnership, have again renewed their relationship with UTL for a further three years. UTL will provide forward logistics and distribution services exclusively in the UK, distributing to retail stores, online, enterprise and consumer customers.
“Vodafone awarded this work to UTL as they were impressed with UTL’s continuing customer focus and innovation to deliver new market leading services.
Growth and investment
UTL managing director Claire Walters insisted the company which operates from 10 nationwide locations, is primed for growth through new markets and investment.
“UTL has a strong business with a clear strategy to deliver growth and enter new market sectors. We are investing in launch- ing new services to drive real value for the end consumer.”