Delivery giant Evri will hire 9,000 new employees in the UK | Business News

Evri will hire 9,000 new employees in the UK following its multi-billion pound acquisition.

The delivery giant said it aims to employ an additional 8,000 couriers, along with around 1,000 warehouse and other support roles.

The company said key locations selected for the new jobs include Scotland, Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, Plymouth in Devon and also Gatwick Airport.

Delivery drivers typically earn around £16.50 an hour, according to Evri.

The recruitment drive comes after private equity firm Apollo Global Management bought Evri for £2.7bn last week in a deal first revealed by Sky News.

Apollo fought off competition from rivals including Chinese retailer JD.com and DHL to acquire the company from private equity firm Advent International.

Evri, previously known as Hermes until a rebrand in 2022, said the number of parcels delivered is now higher than during the boom in home deliveries during the Covid pandemic.

It said the extra staff, which will increase its workforce of independent delivery drivers to around 28,000, will help it deliver up to four million parcels daily.

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The company has been hit in recent years by complaints about its level of service, including delays and missed deliveries.

Evri and rival Yodel were was classified as the worst performer among the UK’s top delivery companies in a survey carried out by the charity Citizens Advice in November 2023.

In January 2023, Labor MP Carolyn Harris also called on the government to investigate the company for alleged “poor customer service and working conditions”.

The company said it has since invested millions of pounds in improvements and claims 99% of deliveries are now made on time.

Evri chief executive Martijn De Lange said: “Winning new customers and increasing order volumes is testament to the confidence customers have in our service and our biggest ever recruitment campaign promises to deliver another record year.”

The company delivers around 720 million packages annually and serves around 12 million customers per week.

Its main customers include retailers Marks & Spencer It is John Lewisas well as online platforms Etsy and Vinted.