DX Group shares head south amid claims of corporate espionage

Delivery business DX Group said on Monday that it has received a claim from Tuffnell Parcels Express in relation to confidential competitor information it had allegedly obtained in the past.

DX stated that matters referred to in the claim were subject to a corporate governance inquiry and investigation by the company, the conclusions of which it reported in an announcement on 20 September 2022.

The AIM-listed group's statement comes after the Sunday Times revealed that a traffic clerk at a London warehouse had been asked to leak confidential corporate information in exchange for £50 from a delivery driver, with Tuffnells alleging that in October 2020, DX employees, all of whom were former employees of Tuffnells, conspired to obtain daily customer service reports.

DX vowed to "defend its position robustly" and said it will respond to the claim in due course, with no further comments to provided until an "appropriate time".

AJ Bell's Russ Mould said: "Industrial espionage has rarely sounded more prosaic although the consequences for delivery and logistics firm DX, if the claims from Sheffield-based rival Tuffnells are proven at the High Court, could be anything but.

"According to newspaper reports DX employees, formerly of Tuffnells, conspired to obtain customer service receipts from the latter. The £50 payments offered to 'Pat' the delivery driver in exchange for the confidential corporate information make it sound like an off-the-wall episode in the life of Greendale's favourite postie."

As of 1000 GMT, DX shares had slumped 7.16% to 27.62p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com