Royal Mail delivers new parcel service

It has been billed as the biggest shake up of postal services since the invention of the postbox in 1852. Royal Mail began a home collection service yesterday in a bid to grab a larger share of the parcel market.

For a fee, the company will collect parcels from private homes, as it taps into an online business boom prompted by the pandemic and increasing home working.

The creation of Postal Collect means online sellers and shoppers will no longer need to leave their homes if they want to mail or return a pre-paid item by post.

It could mean an end to long post office queues, particularly prevalent in the run-up to Christmas.

I t fo l low s th e introduc tion of parcel postboxes across the country last year.

Po s t a l workers will collect up to five packages at a time from the customer ’s door or nominated safe place for 72p per parcel, in addition to postage costs.

Parcel Collect is also ava i l a b l e for pre-paid return items at a cost of 60p per item.

Hargreaves Lansdown equity analyst Nicholas Hyett told the BBC the new service would see a “massive increase” in Royal Mail’s capacity.

He said the move would require a “significant amount of investment” and a “high degree of planning and organisation”, something which has been lacking in other initiatives.

However, he said done well, Postal Collect could help mitigate losses incurred through Royal Mail’s obligation to provide a “universal service” across the UK.

Nick Landon, chief commercial officer at Royal Mail, said: “Royal Mail Parcel Collect is a fantastic step forward for all of our customers.

“It makes it easier to use our ser vices than ever before.

“Wh e t h e r you’re up against time and working from home, making a return, selling online or sending a gift to make someone’s day, Royal Mail Parcel Collect is here to help.

“The launch of Parcel Collec t is par t of our c omm i tm e n t t o continuously make our services better and more convenient.”

To use the service customers must book and pay the fee and postage cost online and print their own labels.

Key steps in the evolution of parcel delivery:

● 1852: Launch of postbox

● 1861: First modern order company

● 1883: Launch post

● 1911: The world’s first scheduled service for transporting mail by air

● 1919: The first public overseas airmail service began

● 1957: The first automatic sorting and cancelling of mail took place

1959: The first postcodes were introduced on a trial basis in Norwich

2019: Launch of postboxes

2020: Launch Collect of of the mail parcel

Fantastic step forward for all of our customers

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