Parcel volumes handled by Hermes UK doubled in the first UK lockdown period of 2020, and the carrier handled a record of 630 million pieces nationwide across the year. In the peak season between Black Friday and Christmas Eve it handled almost 72 million parcels as against 42 million in 2019.
The pandemic was a major factor in the strong growth, though underlying growth was already strong in e-commerce delivery. However, the C2C delivery business Hermes Send saw a volume growth of 104%, accounting for 10 million parcels delivered in December as the pandemic drove people to change their Christmas plans.
Hermes UK’s busiest day was the 1st December when it handled 3.5 million parcels in 24 hours. Across November it handled 67 million parcels and in December, 82.5 million parcels.
The carrier had to expand its infrastructure to successfully meet demand. It opened four operational hubs, five new depots, hired 10,500 new staff and put 2,500 new vehicles into operation.
“As a result of the pandemic and lockdown, we had to fast forward our 5-year plan and deliver it in just 5 months. The level of parcel volumes that we handled was what we had originally planned for in 2025. To achieve this, we worked closely with our retail clients to ensure that we had both capability and capacity, and we also focused on our scalability, innovation and technology to make sure that our couriers had the right tools to enable them to deliver easily, efficiently and safely,” said Martijn de Lange, CEO at Hermes UK.
“We aren’t seeing many signs that this demand is slowing down so far in 2021 and are continuing our ongoing investment into developing our infrastructure and proposition, supported by an award-winning and industry-leading app, and new products and services that are designed to continue to enhance the customer experience. This includes a new local customer service model with agents situated in our depots across the country. We’re focusing on providing strong communication and added assurance and convenience to all of our customers.”