MP shows support to posties in the run up to Christmas

Postal workers have been been showing what it is like to deliver letters and parcels in the peak Christmas period to their local MP.

Jessica Morden, MP for Newport East, visited postal workers at Newport East Delivery Office to find out how they copy with around double the normal volume of letters and parcels processed at this time of year.

She spoke to lead customer operations manager Thomas Elwick about Royal Mail’s strategy to make sending and receiving parcels as convenient as possible over the festive period by adding more choice like Parcel Collect, where posties pick up parcels from customers at the doorstep.

Across the UK, the business has recruited 16,000 temporary workers to help its 85,000 posties sort the additional mail and increasing number of parcels expected over the festive period.

Almost 4,000 new vans, trucks and trailers are being added to the fleet in time for Christmas.

Newport East Delivery Office has hired ten additional employees and six vehicles for the Christmas period to meet increased demand for deliveries.

Mr Elwick said: “It was great to have Jessica visit our delivery office, and to show her how we are gearing up for our peak period. We are pulling out all the stops to deliver Christmas for our customers.”

Ms Morden said: “Royal Mail is an iconic part of Christmas in the UK – it wouldn’t be the same without our posties! I’ve got a complete appreciation for what they do here in Newport East.”