APC Overnight is to increase both parcel sortation and truck parking capacity at its Staffordshire HQ in preparation for the Christmas peak.

The £6m investment will see an additional two sortation systems installed at its Cannock hub by the end of this month, increasing sortation capacity to between 15,000 and 20,000 parcels per hour. It currently is able to process between 20,000 and 25,000 parcels a night.

It also includes the acquisition of a 2.5 acre plot of land adjacent to the hub, which will be used for truck and trailer parking. The site will now be able to accommodate up to 92 trunk vehicles at a time, helping to relieve pressure at times when APC sees as many as 160 trunks per night.

The investment follows the recruitment of 140 additional staff at the Cannock hub last month and an order for 45 additional double-deck Cartwright trailers, all of which are expected to be in operation by the end of this month.

APC Overnight CEO Karl Brown said: “The level of investment we are making ahead of this year’s peak period is the largest the organisation has ever made aside from the construction of our bespoke national sortation centre. This underlines our commitment to delivering exceptionally high service levels for our customers.”