Peak preparations
We have acquired two new temporary parcel sort centres to help deliver Christmas as more and more festive shoppers are expected to move online this year.
The move will help us manage the traditional increase in deliveries over Christmas, as well as cater for the UK’s e-commerce boom that is being accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic and associated lockdown restrictions.
The new sites, in Milton Keynes and Northampton, will form part of a nationwide network of centres dedicated to sorting parcels to help meet a Christmas period that is likely to be even busier than usual. Christmas is typically our busiest time of the year for parcel deliveries, but this Christmas is expected to outstrip prior years’ festive peaks.
This is due to a surge in demand for parcel delivery services as more businesses and customers switch to online shopping amidst the coronavirus crisis. In the first five months of the year, we reported a 34 per cent year-on-year increase in parcel volumes (177 million more parcels).
Around 4,600 seasonal workers will be based in the eight temporary parcel sort centres to help sort the millions of festive parcels we handle. We are also recruiting a total of 33,000 temporary seasonal workers across the operation this Christmas.
Ricky McAulay, field operations director, said: ‘With the possibility of Covid-related restrictions being in place this Christmas, our role in delivering presents and cards will become even more important.
‘Given the rise in online shopping, we have put even more effort into ensuring that we have the right resources in place this Christmas. It’s been a testing year for many, and we can’t wait to help spread some Christmas cheer. We also hope that our seasonal recruitment drive will bring some welcome employment opportunities to regions across the UK ahead of the festive season.’
Our other parcel sort centres are in in Atherstone, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Greenford in West London, Sheffield and Warrington. The centres will open on a phased basis from next month, while recruitment for the seasonal roles based in these centres and elsewhere in our frontline operations is now open.
A dedicated website has been set up for people to apply for the Christmas positions. They can visit https://christmasrecruitment.royalmailgroup.com/, email christmas_helpline@royalmail.com or call the automated helpline on 0345 600 1785.
