The company's history dates back to the nationalisation of the British Railways after World War II. Each of the pre nationalisation companies had formed a local delivery network, based on lorries and vans, to extend the railway to the customer's door, thus enabling parcels and light freight to be delivered in the control of the railway company. These services were amalgamated to form a division of British Road Services in January 1955, known in its shortened version of BRS Parcels. National Carriers was the name given to the amalgamated companies that concentrated on rail transport, while BRS Parcels became Roadline The Conservative Government of Margaret Thatcher privatised these services in 1982, making shares in the newly formed National Freight Corporation available to employees at a price which proved to undervalue the company when they were floated on the stock market. National Carriers and Roadline were merged and operated briefly under the name National Carriers Roadline, before settling on the name Lynx Express Delivery Network. This remained the company's full title, although it was popularly shortened. Following a reorganisation, rationalisation of core business interests and rebranding exercise, National Freight Corporation, by this time shortened to NFC plc, merged with Ocean Group plc and became known as Exel, and Lynx Express was seen as outside its main area of concentration. It was the subject of a management buyout from Exel in June 1997. The newly independent company was subsequently renamed Lynx Express. Lynx Express became majority owned by Bridgepoint Capital. In January 1999, the company acquired British Rail's remaining local delivery asset, Red Star Parcels. In July 2005, Lynx Express was acquired by Atlanta, Georgia based UPS for £55.5 million. At the time, Lynx Express was one of the largest independent parcel carriers in the United Kingdom, with sales of $295 million for the financial year ended 2 October 2004. The company was subsequently integrated into UPS, and the Lynx brand disappeared. The acquisition was completed in September 2005.
