Competitor Watch
Several of our UK competitors have announced additional services and operational adjustments due to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic.
Parcel delivery firm, DPD UK, say it expects food and NHS deliveries to increase rapidly in the coming weeks, following a new tie-up with supermarket giant Morrisons.
The new partnership will see it delivering Morrisons food boxes to vulnerable customers, as well as handling an increase in deliveries for existing food and recipe box shippers.
Morrisons has created two new food boxes, one for meat eaters, and the other, for vegetarians. Both boxes cost £35 and contain a range of chilled, fresh and tinned food stuffs, designed to help feed a couple for up to a week. DPD will deliver the boxes the next day, for orders placed before 3pm.
According to the business, food deliveries have now topped 200,000 a week and are expected to grow significantly.
DPD UK is also making thousands of additional deliveries for the NHS, including hospitals, GP surgeries, out-of-hours centres, pharmacies, care homes and hospices. The company has recently delivered 10.3 million masks, 6.7 million gloves and 5.2 million aprons for the NHS.
As part of its response to covid-19, the firm has introduced full social distancing measures throughout its operation, which includes staff staying two metres apart during briefings and for all processes such as loading and unloading vehicles. Driver start times have also been staggered to ensure there are far fewer drivers in the depot at any time and extra cleaning measures have been introduced at all depots and parcel hubs. Meanwhile, on the doorstep, all deliveries are contactless, with drivers maintaining a distance of at least two metres at all times.
At Royal Mail
We are playing our own vital role to connect the country in these challenging times with our customers relying on us now more than ever. To celebrate the role we have in connecting the UK, and helping people stay safe at home, we have launched our film Delivering for the country. Please feel free to share with your friends and family.
And visit myroyalmail.com/coronavirus for all the latest on what we’re doing to help you and our customers.
