E-consultancy speaks to Jay Bregman, eCourier's CTO, about eCourier's benefits for online retailers and an upcoming ecommerce API.

From working in an office and having no technical knowledge three years ago, Tom Allason has become the man at the top of one of the fastest growing online companies in the UK.

American Jay Bregman, chief technical officer at London-based eCourier, was studying entrepreneurship at the London School of Economics when he started working on an idea.

In the world of delivery, it takes a lot for a company to stand out from the masses, but that's exactly what Tom Allason and Jay Bregman are succeeding in doing with their venture, www.ecourier.co.uk

Demands for greater business agility are threatening to widen the infamous gap between business and IT. What can organisations do to ensure a high level of alignment?

eCourier delivers packages. That sounds like a mundane business, but by using real-time dispatching and allowing its customers to enter their orders electronically, the company can offer better, more reliable service at a lower cost.

In each issue, Communications Engineer, the magazine of the Institute of Engineering, asks experts to comment on an engineering problem. This issue, the question concerned a courier company with a "fleet of vans that carry parcels anywhere within a 60 mile radius of a major city" seeking a systems upgrade.

Better Business magazine explores eCourier's roots: "...it seemed that the conventional courier company wasn't meeting expectations. In any service industry, the customer is king, so when we first started that was what we decided to focus on."

In the face of indifferent customer service, our first reaction is often to yell ineffectually, before submitting to the apathetic voice on the other end of the phone. Not so with Tom Allason.

eCourier CEO and co-founder Tom Allason was named to BT's Essence of the Entrepreneur Top 20.

The o2 "50 to Watch in Mobile" is the first ever independently compiled list identifying the 50 most important mobile computing companies in Britain; eCourier was selected, identified as "using cutting edge technology to track courier parcels". The list was published in conjunction with Real Business, and appears in the November issue.

OpenStreetMap (OSM) aims at providing free geographic data such as street maps. The project relies on volunteers carrying GPS devices to generate mapping data (longtitude and latitude). This is where eCourier comes into play: we produce millions of mapping data points a week, which we donate to OpenStreetMap project.

eCourier, the company that has changed the way packages are delivered across London and the UK, has celebrated its first year of operation with a raft of industry awards, accolades and impressive first year results. No doubt about it, eCourier has gone from "nought to sixty" in no time at all.

Trendy webzine Daily Candy, as essential as morning coffee to its followers, featured eCourier on 20 September: "The whole operation is so user-friendly you'll want to invite them round to your house for a quick cuppa and a cosy chat."

Last Sunday eCourier's Chief Technical Officer, Jay Bregman, rocked London's airwaves in an interview with prominent radio hosts Charlie Jordan and Alison Cork, who described the service as "fantastic."

Bregman told IFW: "Things hadn't changed in the same-day courier business since the 1970s either in terms of IT or service. There was a feeling that your package went off into the ether and by the grace of God arrived at the other end."

The British Computer Society has selected our relentless Chief Technical Officer, Jay Bregman, as one of four finalists for its IT Director of the Year Award. He is now in contention for an award recognised as "the most professional and prestigious IT Award in the UK."

Customers wishing to use their credit or debit card to pay online for courier services can now do so, following the link up between innovative express logistics provider, eCourier, and payment services provider, DataCash.

When eCourier Ltd. developed an innovative online package-tracking system for its customers last summer, it had to coordinate work among front and back-end developers in Italy, Germany and the U.K. But instead of using traditional project management software to monitor the project, the developers used weblogging tools from Providence, R.I.-based Traction Software Inc. to generate project updates and provide a record of the work.

In its first year, internet-based courier firm eCourier is set for £1.6m sales and £8m in 06/07. Real Business talked to eCourier CEO Tom Allason about how it all started.

Industry publication Despatch Manager examines why "a host of high-profile businesses have converted to what is arguably the country's fastest-growing courier business."

Computing turned to tracking experts eCourier for insight on an article on "how the European space programme can lead to improved satellite navigation for users and businesses on the ground." Says CTO Jay Bregman, "Other courier companies rely soley on human control and reporting, which we don't think is enough."

The Evening Standard just discovered a "really useful, efficient, and cheap delivery service operating in London."

What do you do when the event tickets you ordered should've turned up by courier but got delayed and consequently you and your friends missed the show? You decide to start up your own courier company. That's what Tom Allason and his colleagues have done.