TARA Courier Services announced yesterday the acquisition of Airpak Express, another leading local courier company and the local courier arm of Norbrook Package Company.

The combination of both companies will significantly increase Tara’s delivery capacity and further enhance the company’s ability to meet the growing demands of the local economy, said a Tara news release.

Airpak Express was founded in 1992 by entrepreneur Christopher Read and was later acquired by Norbrook in 2011. Since 2011, the company has grown significantly with the acquisition of Speed Couriers and Zippy Couriers. The company employs a staff of more than 90 persons and operates 40 vehicles throughout 10 islandwide locations.

Much of this staff and the company’s fleet infrastructure will be utilised by Tara Courier. However, the current Airpak locations will be converted to stand-alone branches of Mailpac Services, the sister company to Airpak, the release said.

“Margins in the industry have tightened over the past five years due to rising input cost. Accordingly, this combination of platforms will aid in rationalising some of our fixed cost and create greater efficiency in our fleet,” said Tara founder, Steven Laing

“We are excited for the future of this combined platform, as it will be better equipped and able to serve the evolving needs of our customers. With a broader infrastructure and an enhanced team the customers of both companies will experience a marked increase in service quality,” said Khary Robinson, director at Airpak.