Royal Mail set to open up 1,000 UK jobs with parcel business

The Royal Mail look at delivering parcels in a new investment deal worth £75million...

15:36 31 October 2012

The Royal Mail Group is to invest £75million in the company Parcelforce Worldwide as part of their new programme to expand into the parcel business. The move is thought to address the fact that growing online retailers use parcel services.

 

The programme is set to take shape over the next four years and hopes to spread across the UK as well as overseas.

 

As reported by the BBC, the Royal Mail’s last financial year recorded the parcel business as accounting for 48per cent of its total revenues, excluding the Post Office. And in a report by the Mail Online, the group stated that the market in the UK for express parcels is worth £5.8billion annually.

 

Royal Mail Chief Executive Moya Greene said: “Our strategy is to convert the rise in parcel volumes into profitable growth. That means becoming a much more customer-focused company being run on commercial lines and investing in new, vital technology.”

 

It is understood that there will be a new centre opened in Chorley, in the North West of England, in 2013 which will process parcels, with two others being based in Cornwall and Hampshire. There are also plans to expand on the Royal Mail’s existing nine depots, or to relocate these.

 

The Minister for Employment, Mark Hoban, commented on the news: “It is great news that 1,000 new jobs will be created across the country as a result of this investment. We’ve now got a record number of people in employment and these jobs will provide welcome opportunities for people who are looking for work.”

 

This positive news comes after the Royal Mail has cut around 65,000 jobs since 2002 in an attempt to deal with the economic climate.