Competitor Watch
Hermes UK is investing in further operational capacity and new services as it targets another year of profitable volume growth.
Its largest single investment will be in a new £60m hub in Barnsley, with construction of the 363,000sq ft facility, named Colossus, due for completion in 2022. Hermes said the new fully automated facility will be ‘the largest distribution hub in Europe,’ capable of processing 1.3m parcels a day, boosting the company’s overall theoretical capacity to 3.8m a day. Hermes is also planning to expand several depots, including in Nottingham, Bolton and Scotland.
Hermes is changing its business customer proposition by introducing a three-tier portfolio of bundled services to retailers. The first of these, called ‘brilliant basics,’ includes a four-hour delivery time-window, proactive notifications and diversions to a safe place or neighbour. The ‘excellent extras’ bundle offers higher-level services, including a two-hour delivery time-window, diversions to a parcel shop or locker, multiple notifications, estimated delivery date, and retailer marketing options. The top-level ‘finest features’ bundle has all the aforementioned ‘extras’ along with a new in-car delivery service in partnership with Volkswagen, and personal customer service.
For consumers, a new ‘MyPlaces’ function in Hermes’ app will enable users to set alternative delivery preferences such as safe places, neighbours, preferred parcel shops or lockers. It will also offer the option of diverting deliveries from residential addresses to a parcel shop or locker.
Hermes had its seventh consecutive year of double-digit parcel volume growth in 2019, up 15% or 54m parcels to a total of 390m parcels. In 2020, the company expects to deliver 430m parcels, up 10% on last year.
We have chosen the supplier for automation of our Warrington parcel hub, which will handle 40,000 items an hour when fully operational. We are finalising the lease for our second parcel hub in the Midlands. It will be able to handle 60,000 items an hour when first operational. Both hubs have the option to increase capacity in the future. We are continuing to explore options for our third (and final) hub.
