National delivery company Yodel has opened three new super service centres around the UK that has boosted its capacity by 22% in the run up to Christmas.

With four new facilities opened already this year, the company can deliver up to 4.9 million parcels a week around the UK. The new super centres in Livingston, Waltham Cross and Southwark, as well as the sites at Northampton, Selby, Farnborough and Alfreton will reduce the company’s need for temporary space during the Christmas rush.

The Waltham Cross centre began operating on the 6 November while the Livingston and Southwark sites began operating in October. The locations were chosen for their proximity to major road infrastructure and urban centres, and will streamline Yodel’s trunking from central sorting centres, and provide good access to regional centres around the UK.

Executive Chairman of Yodel Dick Stead said, “These recent investments form part of our structured plan to increase not only capacity, but also the quality of Yodel’s service centre infrastructure.”

Currently the company has a network of over 50 regional service centres that receive trailers of parcels from the three central sorting centres in Shaw, Wednesbury and Hatfield. Parcels are then sent on for delivery.

Currently to meet the seasonal rush, Yodel has two temporary sites in Preston and Brighton, as well as running temporary extensions at 18 service centres to cope. With e-commerce here to stay, such delivery companies are making significant investments in their delivery and sorting networks to cope with projected increases in demand. DPD recently announced similar investments in super sized service centres around the UK to meet the demands from its increasing number of customers around the UK. Yodel has further plans for extension of its reach across the UK for 2016.