There’s a new way to send parcels at the Post Office and for the first time it’s not Royal Mail. The Evri Post Office service is to be trialled in 50 branches by Christmas with in-branch sales, parcel pick-ups and drop-offs. The potential is to expand to over 10,000 new Post Office locations.
The trial will use Evri’s ParcelShop self-service device, which will have a dedicated area within branches. This means you may not be offered the service at the counter so customers will need to keep an eye out to see if an alternative to Royal Mail is offered.
The Evri Post Office service is the fourth carrier contract signed, since the Post Office ended their exclusive relationship with Royal Mail. Howver the others, Amazon, DPD, DHL Express are for ‘Click and Collect’ services, Evri is the first Post Office partner to offer sends.
Evri is a household name and we’re delighted to be working with such an established and successful company to expand the wide-range of parcel services that we can offer customers. This is the first time in our history that Post Offices will be selling products for end-to-end delivery with another carrier.
Last January we had no carrier partnerships, and we’ve now grown our Click and Collect capabilities fivefold, which is a real testament to the size and reach of the Post Office network and the accessibility it affords consumers. We now look forward to trialling Evri Parcel Shop services in 50 of our branches ahead of Christmas.
– Nick Read, Chief Executive, the Post Office
Our ParcelShops are key in our commitment to offering consumers both convenience and choice, enabling them to send, return and collect parcels at a time and place that suits them. These new locations will complement our existing nationwide network of 10,000+ locations and give Post Office customers a new fast, reliable and cost-effective way to send and receive their parcels. We are excited as to where our partnership might lead moving forward.
– Martijn De Lange, CEO, Evri
Post Office Strikes
Unfortunately the Evri Post Office service comes coupled with unwelcome news from the CWU who have announced that the Post Office Strikes will continue into 2023. Post Office workers have voted in a national reballot by 91.24% on a 65.21% turnout to continue their industrial action. There was also a 92.36% positive vote (also on a 65.21% turnout) for “action short of a strike”, which in essence means working to rule (no overtime, and so on).
On the plus side, many Post Offices are run by third parties and it’s highly unlikely mine (manned by Tesco employees) will close. However there may be some disruption to all Post Offices on the supply side when deliveries don’t happen.
8 Responses
An end of an era for royal mail. The employees had it coming. i would start looking for a new job where they will have to work harder with fewer benefits. Welcome to the real world CWU people.
The end of Royal Mail is finally in sight. Royal Mail have been trying to cut the Post Office out of the picture completely (offering free collection for instance, or promoting Tracked24/48 further to top of page, which I understand can’t be sent at Post Office). As well as cheaper online prices. So good for Post Office playing hardball. Post Office should take more couriers and get some real competition going.
Good comment
Because of their culture of strikes and awkwardness ,Everyone that needs to have found alternatives ,
CWU have shot both feet, and are now aiming for the head
I am a small business but still spent more than 20k last year with Royal Mail. I have now managed to switch 80% of my business away to other carriers, who are cheaper, more reliable and courteous, not limited to the appalling 2 hour opening hours that RM delivery offices still restrict customers to. Now I realise that Royal Mail will not be bothered by losing most of my custom. But if you multiply that up thousands of times for businesses who are totally peeeeeeeeeeed off with the fact that neither RM management or unions give a damn about their customers. then you have a business that is doomed and rightly so. Sorry for the genuine hard working good posties out there, but you need to find another job.
Well let’s hope the change of name from Hermes to Evri improved their service. Which was dire. I stopped using them and went back to the Post Office.
After a long while away from Hermes/Evri (whatever they want to call themselves) I trailed them with 10 parcels. Out of the 10, they managed to lose 2. That’s a nice 20% failure rate and as such I’ll never use them again no matter where they tout their business.
Good comment