Courier firm DX Group accused by rival of espionage

Courier firm DX Group has confirmed a rival company has launched a legal case accusing it of corporate espionage.

DX said it received a claim from Tuffnell Parcels Express "in relation to confidential competitor information being obtained by DX in the past".

The statement followed a Sunday Times report which said some DX staff, who formerly worked at Tuffnells, offered bribes to obtain corporate information.

DX Group said it "intends to defend its position robustly".

The Sunday Times reported that a Tufnells traffic clerk was asked to leak confidential corporate information by a DX Group employee in exchange for a £50 payment from a delivery driver in October 2020.

The newspaper reported the legal case, filed last week, alleged three DX Group staff, who were all former employees of Tuffnells, had conspired to obtain daily customer service reports.

High Court papers seen by the BBC confirmed the claim by Tufnell Parcels Express against DX Network Services Ltd, DX Group, employees Tom Middlewood, Jim Sinden and Joe Trappitt.

Tufnells said in the papers it was seeking damages as well as other costs.

Shares in DX Group plunged by 11% on Monday morning but have since regained some ground.

DX said in a statement that the matters raised by Sheffield-based Tuffnell Parcels Express had been "subject to a corporate governance inquiry and investigation by DX, the conclusions of which were reported by the company in an announcement made on 20 September 2022".

"As matters are now subject to legal proceedings, the company will not provide further comment until the appropriate time," it said.

On 20 September, a press release by DX said it had held an investigation into "an allegation of bribery" and other related issues.

It said it had found evidence that "confidential competitor information was obtained over a period of time and that an isolated offer of payment for such information had been made by employees".

DX also said the probe concluded there "may have been a breach of the Bribery Act 2010 by the employees concerned". It said work was needed to "improve compliance procedures and to mitigate the risk of potential future incidents".

The company confirmed "further" disciplinary action was being taken with "certain staff involved", after it admitted previous disciplinary action taken at the time was "insufficient".

DX announced two weeks ago the appointment of Paul Ibbetson as its new chief executive after Lloyd Dunn resigned in September last year.

Mr Ibbetson previously managed the freight division of the group and before that worked at Tuffnell Parcels Express where he was a board director for eight years.