Ashley and Tanya Mulligan surrounded by their staff. The couple and their specialist courier firm do everything they can to earn their customers’ trust. Picture: FREDDY MAVUNDA
Ashley and Tanya Mulligan surrounded by their staff. The couple and their specialist courier firm do everything they can to earn their customers’ trust. Picture: FREDDY MAVUNDA

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AWARD-winning Kushesh Express is a specialist healthcare courier that distributes to hospitals, clinics and doctors’ rooms.

The husband-and-wife-owned enterprise says it is the link that completes the relationship between medical manufacturers and their clients.

Ashley and Tanya Mulligan began their business in 2009 and have won various awards for their entrepreneurial spirit. In 2011, Kushesh Express was named Endeavour entrepreneur of the year; the following year it was honoured by Aurik and received a business acceleration bursary for high-impact entrepreneurs.

Also in 2012, Kushesh was among the participants of the Gibbs and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women in Entrepreneurship Scholarship programme.

The company now boasts 34 clients that it services from its three branches in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban.

The Mulligans say that express logistics is indispensable in eliminating time, money and product wastage in the supply chain.

Unlike the big courier companies, Kushesh does not offer a multiple cargo courier service.

It deals specifically with medical equipment and products — a substantial competitive advantage.

Ashley Mulligan says: "Medical consumables are fragile, vulnerable to damage, contamination, delay and pilferage. They require special handling, segregated from general cargo, and we offer that."

Tanya Mulligan says offering specialist services gives them an edge over the competition. "Specialising is very important. You need to become the best. We have to cover the basics … being on time, reliable and providing best customer experience."

The Mulligans say Kushesh differentiates itself by offering specialised cargo care — hygiene-assured cleanliness of premises and vehicles, tight security, speed and reliability.

Kushesh Express provides same-day delivery and, in those cases where deliveries are within the same town, a two-hour service.

This service is also offered to hospitals, clinics, government health points, retirement and frail-care centres, and rural clinics.

Ashley Mulligan says Kushesh truly understands what a big leap of faith it takes to entrust a courier with medical deliveries.

"We don’t take that trust lightly. We do whatever we can to earn our clients’ trust each and every day."

Ethel Nyembe, head of small enterprises at Standard Bank, lauded Kushesh’s success, saying: "It is very encouraging to see how Kushesh Express spotted a key challenge that their customer, Akacia, was dealing with, and how they in turn exercised agility in helping to solve the challenge."

The Mulligans say failure to distribute goods and services by companies, particularly in the healthcare sector, has serious implications.

This is why the help of dedicated service providers is gaining in importance.

The increasing use of outsourced logistics groups, and specialised courier and express parcel delivery services, is not limited to the government.

The growing online consumer market is going to offer an exciting new growth horizon in years to come.

International providers such as DHL, Fedex and UPS connect SA with the rest of the world, while companies that have expansive local capability, such as Kushesh, provide rapid delivery within the borders.