Parcel delivery giant Evri is on the hunt for 8,000 additional couriers, alongside 1,000 warehouse and other supporting roles this year, ahead of the peak delivery season.

This latest recruitment drive will see Evri’s total self-employed courier workforce hit 28,000, as it prepares to deliver around 4 million parcels during its busiest days.

This year’s search for 8,000 couriers exceeds the 5,000 couriers the company recruited for last Christmas.  

The key areas where Evri is seeking to hire are Scotland, Bury St Edmunds, Plymouth and Gatwick. Candidates can apply by attending an introductory call with the local community delivery manager, and then begin training from August.

Evri couriers typically earn around £16.50 per hour and will benefit from the company’s recently enhanced courier package. Evri is also partnering with Onsi to give all self-employed couriers access to new benefits including Digital GP, mental health support, discounts at supermarkets and on fuel. 

Evri said the recruitment drive is in response to burgeoning  online deliveries, with parcel volumes outstripping the Covid years off the back of sales from successful home-grown high street retailers, fast-growing new entrants and pre-loved platforms.

The delivery company, which was launched in Bradford in 1974 as Grattan Mail Order, now delivers 730 million parcels each year, serving 12 million customers a week via a growing network of self-employed couriers, five hubs, 27 depots and 550 delivery units.

Last year, Evri delivered a record performance over its peak festive period, when it grew parcel volumes to more than 154 million over the nine weeks to 30 December 2023. This included a delivery blitz in the final seven days after cautious shoppers waited for discounts before purchasing.

Evri said its peak trading recruitment drive builds on its ”significant” investment recently in customer service, including launching a new chatbot and callback feature to deliver a response in 24 hours or less, tripling the number of people who get an answer.

Martijn De Lange, Evri chief executive, said: “We know that service, reliability and quality are critical factors for our clients and consumers. We have an industry-leading 99% on-time delivery rate and our couriers have received more than 3 million 5-star reviews on Trustpilot and customers using our own app rate their courier 4.7 out of 5 on average.

“New client wins, and increased parcel volumes are proof of the trust customers have in our service and biggest-ever recruitment drive promises to deliver another record year.”

He added: “Evri is also on the way to be the most sustainable parcel delivery company by building the largest sustainable fleet of e-cargo bikes, with more bikes than ever on the road in 2024, as we move towards our goal of becoming net-zero by 2035.”

 

 

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