Seven-Day Parcel Service

Expanding our Sunday parcel deliveries, and keeping the Universal Service relevant and sustainable

We have successfully introduced Sunday parcel deliveries for some of our largest retailers. It is now our ambition to grow our Sunday parcel deliveries and offer ‘Sundays for all’. We go everywhere, and we want to deliver parcels everywhere, every day. Thanks to our infrastructure and our people we’re uniquely placed to do this. This means that every household and every business in the UK can participate in the e-commerce revolution.

We’re privileged to be the UK’s Universal Service Provider. Whether it’s the highlands of Scotland, the valleys in Wales, on the Isle of Wight, in Ballymena or London, we deliver and collect for one price. And we remain committed to the universal, affordable, ‘one price goes anywhere’ nature of the Universal Service.  

We love letters and believe there is an important role for them as part of the UK’s social fabric. But we have to acknowledge that letter volumes are down more than 60% since their peak in 2004/5. So, it’s time to start defining what a sustainable USO is for the future.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on expanding our Sunday parcel deliveries, and how we can keep the Universal Service relevant and sustainable given all the changes we’re seeing.

 

Share your questions and let us know what you think

Use Workplace

Go to the 7-Day Service Workplace Group to share your thoughts, ideas and questions about moving to a seven-day parcel service and how we should adapt to deliver this. Remember to add the hashtag #7dayservice.

Not yet on Workplace? Click here to find out how to sign up and get involved.

 

Complete our short survey

Prefer to share your views and questions anonymously? Then follow this link or scan the QR code and fill in our short survey.

 

Frequently asked questions

Below are our top frequently asked questions. Come back often as we update them regularly.

Frequently asked questions

We want to invest in a seven-day parcel service that goes everywhere in the country, at the same price. We want to offer ‘Sundays for all’, levelling up service provision and ensuring that every household in the UK, and every business whether small medium or large, can participate in the e-commerce revolution. 

Accelerated by the pandemic, the world is has changed and customers are demanding more parcels and using fewer letters. Domestic parcel volumes are up around a third compared to pre-COVID, and customers are demanding more convenient deliveries, more often, and with greater control and visibility over when their parcel will arrive. Letters are in long-term decline, with volumes down by more than 60% since their peak in 2004/5. Posties are only delivering around a third of the volumes they were then – down from more than 20 billion letters to around 7 billion now – whilst the number of addresses they have to deliver to has grown by around 3.5 million in the same period. Given the significant changes we continue to see in the market, we continue to believe the best way to ensure that the USO meets customers’ needs is to rebalance what we do more towards parcels.

We love letters and believe there is an important role for them as part of the UK’s social fabric. But have to acknowledge that letter volumes are down more than 60% since their peak in 2004/5. So, it’s time to start defining what a sustainable USO is for the future.