Royal Mail is pulling out all the stops in its seasonal drive to deliver Christmas to its customers. The company today announced it is recruiting 16,000 temporary workers to help its 85,000 posties sort the mail, as well as the increasing number of parcels the company expects to process over the festive period.
Almost 4,000 new vans, trucks and trailers are being added to the fleet in time for Christmas. These vehicles form part of the company’s plan to renew its fleet with a total of 5,000 new vehicles added to its delivery fleet, including 2,100 electric vans. In addition, over 1,200 road haulage contractors are being hired to transport the festive mail and parcels across the country.
The temporary positions will be located in two parcel hubs, five seasonal parcel sort centres and 37 mail centres across the country, with a variety of shifts available.
There are also 5,000 delivery and collection roles available in local delivery offices across the country.
The company’s two parcel hubs based in Daventry and Warrington will be hiring over 2,000 additional staff as they expect 1.7m parcels per day to be processed across both sites.
A total 141,000 sqm of extra temporary space – equivalent to 20 football pitches – has been created across the five seasonal parcel sort centres located in Atherstone, Milton Keynes, Northampton, Daventry, and Greenford in London.
Contracts will run from late October through to early January 2025. The period for the additional temporary work includes Black Friday and Cyber Monday but will be at its peak in December.
Royal Mail will also be working closely with its sister business, Parcelforce Worldwide, to maximise the capability of both networks to deliver for our customers. Parcelforce is better placed to accommodate larger items posted within the networks. Where required, larger items will be transferred from Royal Mail’s network to Parcelforce during the peak season to ensure the right sized parcels are being delivered by the right networks.
Parcelforce Worldwide is also recruiting additional drivers and indoor workers.
Every year we pull out all the stops to deliver Christmas for our customers. It’s our busiest time of year and we plan all year round to help ensure we deliver the best possible service for UK consumers and businesses. We are continuing to make a substantial commitment in additional resources including the recruitment of thousands of temporary workers to handle the festive mailbag and the growing market of online Christmas shopping.
– Alistair Cochrane, Chief Operating Officer, Royal Mail
