Fast Express operations terminated in UAE

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HOT SEAT: Former Fast Express manager Kartik Pandit.

Fast Express, the UAE courier firm owned by Emirates National Group (ENG), has folded after apparently failing to turn a profit.

The company, which shared offices and cars with the Fast-Rent-A-Car business, was wound up at the beginning of June.

Richard D'Souza, branch manager of Fast Express in Abu Dhabi, said that the majority of the firm's employees were made redundant on 31st May, with only a handful staying on the wrap up final business.

"We issued letters to our customers in April that that at the end of the month we are winding up the business," he said. "There are many elements to it. The bottom line is that the company doesn't have enough to carry on.

"It's a group company. Logistics is not the core business. The core business is the rent-a- car business. We were almost on the verge of breaking even, but the company wants to concentrate elsewhere."

Around half of the 70 former employees of Fast Express have found positions elsewhere within the group, D'Souza said. The rest have not been so fortunate.

"It was a shock for us," said one former employee of the company who was made jobless by the move.

"We were still in the process of buying new motorbikes for the company when we were told that they were going to wind up and concentrate on the rent-a-car business. We went in expecting job security but it wasn't there. They have not paid us anything extra, other than that which we have worked. It is going to be a problem to survive unless I manage to find another job."

D'Souza said that the majority of the motorbikes which were recently purchased had already been sold.

It is believed that there were 30 motorbikes specifically for the courier service based in the Dubai office alone.

The majority of the cars used by Fast Express have already been returned to the rent-a-car business. The courier group owns 16 offices across the UAE.

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