First past the post

For FedEx, a company that prides itself on making next day deliveries in lightning speed, countries like the UAE throw up several challenges.

Not only is heavy traffic in Dubai a daily problem - but the fact that many residents don't know their own street name or house number, means making door-to-door deliveries in the UAE can involve a lot of detective work.

Hamdi Osman, FedEx's senior vice president for the Middle East, Indian subcontinent and Africa admits it's not the easiest of environments to operate in.

"In Dubai everyone relies on PO Box numbers and as our business is door-to-door, that is a challenge for the express industry," he says.

"With challenges like that you have to go and establish new systems, you have to make sure it's being done the right way to protect your bottom line. You do not want to have to waste a whole day looking for someone or looking for every package that you receive. Like every express company, this is the kind of thing that you have to research, going to call the sender and the recipient until you find out exactly where the person lives. When it's the first time delivering to a new customer coming in it takes extra time and effort. And I think if any message is to be given it's that proper coding to the streets would help tremendously." But despite these obstacles, like Tom Hanks' FedEx delivery man character in the 2000 film Castaway, Osman is determined to let nothing get in the way of an express delivery.

"No matter what we don't leave parcels next door. We make sure they are delivered to the person they are addressed to. We will do whatever it takes to deliver that customer's package. To us every package is a golden package; you never know what's in that package," he explains.

It is precisely this almost fanatical commitment to keeping its promise of making next day deliveries that has seen FedEx grow from an all-American company running 14 planes in 1973 to a multinational giant with a fleet of 700 planes delivering parcels to every corner of the world.

The company currently provides door-to-door delivery services in 220 countries worldwide, including 123 EMEA countries. It employs 8200 people in 123 countries throughout the region and there are seven companies operating under the FedEx name: FedEx Express; FedEx Ground; FedEx Freight; FedEx Kinko's Office and Print Services; FedEx Custom Critical; and FedEx Services.

The company has grown on the strength of several high-profile acquisitions including American Freightways in 2001, Kinko's in 2004 and Watkins Motor Lines in 2006.

This year alone the company has completed three major acquisitions. Most recently in September it acquired UK domestic express company ANC which has now been renamed as FedEx UK.

April saw FedEx Express acquire its Hungarian global service partner Flying-Cargo Hungary Kft as part of its plan to expand across Eastern Europe. In January it acquired the Indian service provider Prakash Air Freight Pvt - one of the largest domestic express companies operating in India with over 384 offices and depots serving 4400 destinations with a network covering every city in India.

The latter acquisition will allow FedEx to tap into India's flourishing export industry - the value of which is predicted to reach US$150bn by 2009.

FedEx has also launched a number of new services across the world this year.