Royal Mail Group today announced a £75 million (€93 million), four-year investment programme forits UK express parcels business, Parcelforce Worldwide (PFW), as part of the group’s strategy to
expand its parcels businesses in the UK and overseas to take advantage of the growth ine-commerce.The investment is expected to create around 1,000 jobs, boosting Parcelforce’s workforce byalmost 20%, and will include the opening of a new parcel-processing centre in Chorley, Lancashirein northwest England in autumn 2013 in addition to the company’s existing hub in Coventry.
Two new depots will also be opened in Cornwall and Hampshire, with a further nine existingdepots either expanded or moved to larger sites over the next four years. There will also be asignificant investment in IT as legacy systems are replaced, Royal Mail said.
A spokesman told CEP-Research that 150 people would be employed at the new parcel-processingcentre, with the vast majority of the remaining jobs expected to be for delivery and collectiondrivers. “There will also be people recruited in sales and customer service functions,” he added.Around 5,300 people currently work for Parcelforce.
He said Royal Mail was not providing a detailed breakdown of the investment, or any serviceinnovations likely to be introduced as a result, adding: “Parcelforce Worldwide will continue tolook at opportunities to develop its service offering to meet the evolving needs of its customers.”& amp; amp; amp; amp; lt; /p>
Royal Mail Group CEO Moya Greene commented: “Our £75 million investment is part of Royal MailGroup’s strategy to grow its parcels businesses in the UK and overseas. Our strategy is to convertthe rise in parcel volumes into profitable growth. That means becoming a much more customer-focusedcompany, being run on commercial lines and investing in new, vital technology.
“The investment will enable Royal Mail Group’s express parcels business to meet the rapid growthin demand in the business-to-business, business-to-consumer and consumer-to-consumer markets.”
Royal Mail Group has three parcels networks in the UK: Royal Mail’s UK parcels operation;Parcelforce Worldwide and Royal Mail Specialist Services. Its express-parcels business, ParcelforceWorldwide, serves both the business-to-business and business-to-consumer market segments and hasone of the highest quality of service performances in the UK express parcels market, with afirst-time delivery rate of 96.8%.
Royal Mail said it was already the trusted partner of some of the UK’s largest online retailingcompanies, and supported by continued growth in online retailing, the group’s UK parcels volumesgrew by 6% and revenues by 10% in 2011-12. In the last reported financial year, Royal Mail Group’sparcels businesses accounted for 48% (£4.2 billion) of total revenues, excluding the Post OfficeLtd business.
