Large parcels demand

We’re installing 10 new large parcel conveyors at our mail centres to improve efficiency and meet growing demand for parcel deliveries ahead of Peak.

The conveyors, which will speed up parcel sorting and improve tracking, will be deployed at mail centres where large parcels are currently mostly sorted by hand. The new technology will help to meet increasing demand for parcels, especially of a larger size.

Since 2017, the average size of a parcel we handle has increased by more than 25%, and the number of large parcels (bigger than a shoebox) handled has more than doubled.

Our in-house engineering team initially designed and built a new large parcel conveyor for Midlands Super Hub, using belts instead of the typical rollers. The same design is now being rolled out across our mail centres.

We have had two in the business since 2022 – at Gatwick and South Midlands mail centres. Installation is now taking place at Jubilee and Tyneside – which are expected to be live by the end of October.

Ahead of Christmas, conveyors will be deployed at Medway, Birmingham, Leeds, Home Counties North and Belfast mail centres. Chelmsford, Greenford and Bristol will have theirs installed by February next year.

Neil Chaplain, Engineering and Process Design Director, said: ‘We’re seeing an increasing number of larger sized parcels being sent through our network as online shopping habits continue to evolve.

‘The addition of our in-house designed large parcel conveyers to some of our busiest mail centres will help us automate the handling of them as much as possible and increase efficiency, especially as we head into the peak Christmas shopping period.’

In addition, a new parcel sorting machine (PSM) at Leeds Mail Centre recently went live, with Plymouth and Exeter’s PSMs on the way shortly, adding to the 36 currently in operation.