DPD, which claims to be the UK's fastest growing major parcel delivery company, has outlined its plans to handle an expected 30% volume rise during this year’s peak season with more permanent staff and facilities.
The company said it already started planning for ‘Peak 2015’, running from Black Friday until the January sales, in partnership with business customers and major retail clients at the start of the year. As a result, the company “is planning for a 30% increase in parcel volumes compared to last year”. In 2014, DPDgroup UK, covering DPD and sister company Interlink, increased revenues by 26% to £873 million.
Unlike a lot of other firms, DPD said its approach to Peak is based largely on investing in and expanding its base of permanent staff and network infrastructure, as the company continues to grow by over 20% a year.
While DPD has recruited over 1,000 seasonal staff, the main focus will be on five long term key strategic developments. Over 950 new, permanent DPD drivers have been recruited and trained ahead of Peak.
The network has been expanded with the opening of the £100 million hub in Hinckley, Leicestershire, which DPD describes as “Europe's largest and most technically advanced sorting hub” and which increased its overall UK parcel capacity by 65%. In addition, there are four brand new, purpose-built, state-of-the-art, 60,000 sq ft ‘Super Depots' in Cardiff, Dagenham, Exeter and Stoke.
This year the company has also launched the DPD Pickup parcel shop network with over 2,500 participating around the UK including Halfords, the Rowlands and Numark chemist chains and transport hub parcel specialists Doddle.
DPD also pointed to Sunday deliveries as a key success factor already last year. The company delivers seven days a week all year round and is expecting to deliver over 250,000 parcels on Sundays during Peak.
Underpinning everything will be the unique one-hour delivery service Predict, which provides customers with advanced notification of their exact one-hour delivery slot and gives them access to a range of ‘in-flight options' such as deliver to a specific neighbour, leave in a specified safe place or divert delivery to the nearest DPD Pickup shop. This enables recipients to manage their own delivery via their smartphone or PC, by communicating with their driver in real-time.
Dwain McDonald, DPD UK's CEO, commented: "We've been talking in detail with our customers, who include many of the biggest retailers in the country, and it is clear that from Black Friday, right through to the January sales, this year is going to break all records for online shopping. For us, that means millions of parcels that have to be delivered, right first time.
"As a result, we've invested more than ever this year to provide the best service for our business and retail customers. As much as possible, our approach is about investing in permanent, full-time, trained drivers, using the best technology available to get the job done. Supporting them, I think we've got the best network in the industry and more capacity than ever thanks to our brand new £100m hub and much larger regional depots.
"For me the key to handling volume is around being more efficient. The latest fully automated hubs and depots help us manage higher volumes in the network, while being a seven day a week operation means we are constantly moving everything through the system avoiding build-ups over the weekend. Out on the road, we'll send over 50 million advanced notifications during Peak, and the real time responses our drivers receive from recipients mean that before they attempt a delivery, they already know who's in or out and what they want us to do with their parcel, which saves a huge amount of time."
The company employs more than 9,000 people in the UK, operating more than 3,000 vehicles from over 50 locations and delivering 1.6 million parcels per week.
