Company Timeline
| Year | Business Express | Reality Group |
|---|---|---|
| 1895 | Kay&Co. founded by Kilbourne Kay | |
| 1948 | GUS transport (White Arrow) established in Nottingham | |
| 1971 | Home Delivery Services launched after the Postal strike of 1971. The first depot to be opened was Sunderland. | |
| 1980 | Network of 32 depots | Network of depots implemented data transfer/planning systems |
| 1982 | Dedicated heavy and large operation opened (specialised operations) | |
| Droitwich sort centre opened. | ||
| 1988 | Home Delivery Services Acquired by Federal Express | Dedicated in-house operation established fleet of vehicles |
| 1990 | Joint venture with TNT Transport makes White Arrow the UK’s biggest parcel delivery system | |
| 1992 | Home Express formed following re-acquisition of former HDS from Federal Express | Transfer of northern two-man operation to Beehive mill, Bolton |
| 1993 | Two-Man operation Edmonton opened | |
| 1994 | Two-Man operation Blackpole, Worcester opened | |
| 1996 | Business Express launched with new next day service offer. | England and Wales completely covered with a Two-Man operation |
| 1999 | Shaw sort centre opened in March 1999. Capacity to sort 60 million items/yr | |
| Track and Trace introduced 1500 hand held terminals | ||
| 2000 | Track and Trace introduced 2500 hand held terminals to its depot network | Reality Group Limited launched with a major drive in using a self-employed courier network |
| 2003 | Separation of Littlewoods Ltd. Creating distinct and separate businesses including Business Express Network Limited | Business sold by GUS plc to March UK Ltd. |
| 2004 | Littlewoods Shop Direct Group launched | |
| 2005 |
120 million item annual sort capacity |
|