Parcelforce Worldwide

Royal Mail's express parcels business, delivering time-guaranteed next-day and two-day parcels across the UK and to destinations worldwide.

About Parcelforce Worldwide

Parcelforce Worldwide is the express parcels arm of Royal Mail. It collects and delivers parcels for businesses and individuals, from personal gifts to important business documents. Its focus is on guaranteed delivery times, with next-day and two-day services, and its international network, which the company says covers 99.6% of the world's population. In Europe it works with General Logistics Systems (GLS), a sister company in the same group, which Wikipedia says delivers over a million parcels a day across 34 countries. It is a trading name of Royal Mail, so its story is closely tied to Royal Mail's.

The business has its roots in Royal Mail's parcel post service, which began in 1883. The parcels division was set up as its own business in 1986, was rebranded as Parcelforce in March 1990, and became Parcelforce Worldwide in 1998, according to the sources we read. In March 2002 the everyday universal parcels service moved to Royal Mail and Parcelforce concentrated on time-guaranteed express deliveries. In 2007 it became the first UK express carrier to offer customers carbon offsetting, and in 2012 Royal Mail announced a four-year investment in the business. We did not find a mission statement. A recruitment partner's page says the business is built around speed, precision and customer service.

Parcelforce operates across the whole of the UK. Wikipedia reports two hubs in the West Midlands, south of Coventry, one for UK parcels and one for international parcels. The UK hub covers 24,000 square metres and can handle up to 58,500 parcels an hour. There are also 54 local depots for collection and delivery, and the 2012 investment named a processing centre in Chorley, Lancashire, and depots in Basingstoke and Bodmin. Its head office is listed as Milton Keynes. Aaron Barnes became managing director in September 2021, so check the company's site for the current leadership.

Wikipedia gives about 6,500 employees. The recruitment partner's page describes the ideal team member as proactive, organised, dedicated, motivated and customer-focused, with a habit of going the extra mile for customers. It shares Royal Mail's long postal heritage and competes with global names such as DHL, FedEx and UPS.

The roles in a network like this are varied. Drivers on 3.5 tonne and 7.5 tonne vehicles collect and deliver parcels, and warehouse sorters and hub operatives move parcels through the big sorting centres. Administrators support customers and drivers, and customer service teams answer questions about where a parcel is. Behind them are planners, engineers who look after sorting equipment, and sales, finance and IT staff. If you like fast-moving practical work, or are curious about how a parcel gets from one country to another overnight, this is a good company to explore.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Time-guaranteed next-day and two-day collection and delivery across the UK.', 'title': 'Express UK parcels'}
• {'desc': 'Delivery worldwide through an international partner network, with GLS covering Europe.', 'title': 'International express'}
• {'desc': 'Parcel collection for businesses and individuals, supported by UK depots and hubs.', 'title': 'Collection and business services'}

Key facts

• Parcels division set up in 1986, rebranded Parcelforce in March 1990 and Parcelforce Worldwide in 1998
• 54 local depots and two hubs in the West Midlands; the UK hub can handle up to 58,500 parcels an hour (Wikipedia)
• Reaches 99.6% of the world's population through its partner network (company claim as reported)
• About 6,500 employees (Wikipedia, undated)

Website: www.parcelforce.com