Citipost

Citipost is a regional postal service provider based in Hannover, Germany, and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Madsack Mediengruppe. It began mail delivery in February 1999 and has grown into one of the larger private letter-delivery networks in northern Germany. Its core delivery area covers a large part of Lower Saxony, specifically the regions of Hannover, Celle, Gifhorn and Peine, and it also operates through a brand partnership of legally independent postal companies that together serve a much wider territory. The company positions itself as a low-cost, punctual alternative to Deutsche Post, with the slogan "Günstig, pünktlich, deutschlandweit" (inexpensive, punctual, nationwide). According to its own figures, more than 1,500 delivery staff handle up to 400,000 items for over 2,000 customers, supported by more than 400 letterbox locations and so-called Service Points. In the 2012 financial year Citipost GmbH delivered 44.4 million items and generated revenue of around 20 million euros, with an average of 115 employees plus four apprentices. Citipost's history includes a period inside the PIN Group: it joined the PIN Group in June 2007 but was bought back by Verlagsgesellschaft Madsack in April 2008, and in September 2008 it was renamed Citipost GmbH again. In August 2009 the Citipost-Verbund-GmbH was founded to create a joint postal delivery offering among 24 partner companies, covering an area of more than 11 million inhabitants, with shared logistics structures, quality standards and a planned hub near the A7 between Hannover and Walsrode. Since 24 February 2012 Citipost GmbH has transported mail throughout Germany. The Citipost brand partnership includes numerous regional operators such as Citipost Göttingen, Citipost Celle, Citipost Hildesheim, Citipost Bremen, Citipost Osnabrück, Citipost OWL and Citipost Hamburg, many of them linked to regional newspaper publishers. This structure reflects Citipost's origins in the newspaper publishing world and its strategy of combining local delivery density with a nationwide network.

Citipost began mail delivery in February 1999, making it one of the earlier private postal operators in Germany following the liberalization of the postal market. It is headquartered in Hannover and is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Madsack Mediengruppe, a major regional newspaper publisher. Its delivery area covers a large part of Lower Saxony, including the regions of Hannover, Celle, Gifhorn and Peine. In 2005 Citipost delivered 26 million items, a figure that grew to 44.4 million by 2012. In June 2007 the company was absorbed into the PIN Group, a consolidation of private postal companies, but in April 2008 Verlagsgesellschaft Madsack bought it back. In September 2008 the company was renamed Citipost GmbH again. A major structural development came on 11 August 2009 with the founding of Citipost-Verbund-GmbH. This new company was created to establish a joint offering in postal delivery, networking the individual shareholders who together cover an area of more than 11 million inhabitants. Its goals included uniform logistics structures, quality standards, timely exchange of mail volumes, servicing regional major customers, and connecting the network to cooperations of postal service companies in other parts of Germany. A main transshipment hub (HUB) was to be built near the motorway between Hannover and Walsrode. All 24 partner companies are involved in Citipost-Verbund-GmbH, and these are consistently postal companies with participations from regional newspaper publishers. In November 2009 Citipost installed 76 letterboxes in the city of Hannover, allowing customers with smaller mail volumes to use Citipost services there. Letterboxes were not limited to Hannover: Citipost Bremen, in cooperation with Bremer Straßenbahn (BSAG), had already placed letterboxes (CITIbox) in all rail vehicles in 2007. On 19 January 2010, Mailworxs GmbH was founded under the leadership of TNT Post Deutschland, with Citipost GmbH as a founding member of the Mail Alliance (Mailworxs GmbH). Since 24 February 2012, Citipost GmbH has transported all mail throughout Germany. In terms of business results, Citipost GmbH delivered 44.4 million items in 2012 (including letters forwarded to Deutsche Post AG for delivery), compared with 44.8 million in 2011. Revenue in 2012 was around 20 million euros, with a net loss of about 729,000 euros; 2011 closed with a net loss of about 350,000 euros on revenue of around 20 million euros. In 2012 the company employed an average of 115 staff plus four apprentices, down slightly from 121 staff and four apprentices in 2011. A subordination agreement (Rangrücktrittserklärung) exists from the sole shareholder, Verlagsgesellschaft Madsack. The Citipost brand partnership consists of legally independent postal companies. These include Citipost-Verbund-GmbH Hannover (with 24 partners), Citipost Hannover (Citipost GmbH, 100% owned by Verlagsgesellschaft Madsack), Citipost Göttingen (99% Madsack), Citipost Celle, Citipost Delmenhorst-Ganderkesee (dk Brief Post GmbH), Citipost Hildesheim (formerly HilPost), Citipost Weserbergland (Deister- und Weserzeitung), Citipost Harz (Goslar + Osterode am Harz), Citipost Nordwest (Oldenburg), Citipost Bremen (Nordwest-Mail GmbH, 50% Postcon), Citipost Osnabrück, Citipost Stade, Citipost OWL (Neue Westfälische 70%, Mindener Tageblatt 15%, Lippische Landes-Zeitung 15%), Citipost Nordsee, Citipost Zeven, Citipost Bremervörde, Citipost Oldenburger Münsterland, Citipost Norden, Citipost Hamburg and CITIPOST Rotenburg. This network structure allows Citipost to combine local delivery density with broader coverage.

• 2012

  Citipost GmbH begins transporting mail throughout Germany.

• 2012

  44.4 million items delivered; revenue around 20 million euros.

• 2010

  Mailworxs GmbH founded; Citipost GmbH is a founding member of the Mail Alliance.

• 2009

  Citipost-Verbund-GmbH founded with 24 partner companies.

• 2009

  76 letterboxes installed in Hannover.

• 2008

  Verlagsgesellschaft Madsack buys Citipost back from the PIN Group.

• 2008

  Company renamed Citipost GmbH again.

• 2007

  Citipost joins the PIN Group.

• 2005

  26 million items delivered.

• 1999

  Citipost begins mail delivery.

Low-cost, punctual regional and nationwide mail delivery alternative to Deutsche Post, rooted in regional newspaper publishing networks.

• Letter mail delivery

  Regional and nationwide delivery of letters and small mail items.

• Business mail solutions

  Mail consolidation and delivery services for business customers.

• Citipost-Verbund network

  A partnership of 24 legally independent postal companies sharing logistics and quality standards.

• CITIbox

  Letterboxes placed in Bremen tram vehicles in cooperation with BSAG.

1. 1Home – Citipostcitipost.de
2. 2Citipost – Wikipedia (German)de.wikipedia.org
3. 3Citipost – Wikidatawikidata.org