Dr Simon Opher MP visited postal workers at Stroud Delivery Office last week to find out more about what it takes to deliver letters and parcels in the peak Christmas period.
Christmas is Royal Mail’s busiest period, with around double the normal volume of letters and parcels processed. Simon spoke to Lead Customer Operations Manager Keith Mace about Royal Mail’s strategy to continue to make sending and receiving parcels as convenient as possible over the festive period by adding more choice. This includes services like Parcel Collect, where posties pick up parcels from customers at the doorstep, and offering more ways to drop off parcels at convenient times and locations. Royal Mail has already rolled out more than 5,000 parcel points this year, including at Collect+ stores and its growing number of parcel lockers.
Royal Mail prepares all year to deliver Christmas. Across the UK, the business has recruited 16,000 temporary workers to help its 85,000 posties sort the additional mail and increasing number of parcels expected over the festive period. Almost 4,000 new vans, trucks and trailers are being added to the fleet in time for Christmas.
Stroud Delivery Office has hired 10 new recruits and 11 extra vehicles for the Christmas period to meet increased demand for deliveries in the local area.
Keith Mace, Lead Customer Operations Manager for Stroud, said: “It was great to have Simon visit our Delivery Office, and to show him how we are gearing up for our peak period. We are pulling out all the stops to deliver Christmas for our customers.”
Dr Simon Opher said: “Royal Mail is an iconic part of Christmas in the UK – it wouldn’t be the same without our posties! I’ve got a newfound appreciation for what they do after seeing how the operation works on the inside.”
