Post offices are to allow people to pick up and drop off parcels and packages for courier companies other than Royal Mail, potentially opening the way to partnerships with the likes of Amazon or Hermes in a shake-up of the UK’s postal service.
The Post Office announced on Thursday that it would open access to other delivery companies as well as Royal Mail from March 2021 onwards.
Royal Mail, the delivery company, and the Post Office, which runs the branch network, were separated in 2012 before the former listed on the stock market in 2013. Their exclusive partnership ends in March and the new deal, which runs to 2032, leaves the door open to other companies to join.
It is understood that the Post Office is engaged in talks with multiple courier companies who could use the service, although no agreements have yet been reached.
The Post Office has 11,500 branches across the country, a network that could be valuable for other couriers, some of whom have tried to build up rival networks in newsagents.
The opening up of post offices to other firms could potentially help postmasters – who run their businesses as independent franchises – to capitalise on the boom in online deliveries of products, at a time when demand for letters is rapidly diminishing.
Potential services could include click-and-collect orders, as well as easy returns for online retail purchases. The Post Office will hope that extra footfall from customers of other courier services will keep the postmasters onside.
Nick Read, the Post Office’s chief executive, said in a speech to postmasters on Thursday: “The parcel market is booming and has changed out of all recognition from the way the world looked in 2012. The growth of online retailing means there is much more competition. Customers can choose other mail and parcels providers directly.
“But it doesn’t remove the fact that physical presence is still vital. The presence of a post office in every community of the UK is very attractive and makes us uniquely placed to benefit for many years to come.”
Royal Mail recently launched doorstep parcel collection across the country, a move that could reduce its dependence on the Post Office.
