Post Office to offer pick-up and drop-off parcel lockers

The Post Office will offer pick-up and drop-off parcel lockers for the first time from next month in a landmark deal with the Polish-based group InPost.

The lockers will be installed outside “several hundred” Post Offices allowing customers to use them outside normal trading hours and could eventually give InPost access to the 15,000-strong Post Office network.

During the six-month trial, the Post Office will look for evidence that the lockers boost footfall and generate more revenue for postmasters.

The Post Office is under no obligation to use Royal Mail — now owned by the Czech energy tycoon Daniel Kretinsky — and picked InPost because of its “innovative solutions” for customers.

InPost has 11,000 postal lockers in Britain and claims to be the largest such service in Europe. Listed in Amsterdam, it is valued at €5.5 billion (£4.8 billion), down from the €8 billion valuation it achieved on its initial public offering (IPO) in 2021 when the pandemic lockdowns sparked a boom for online deliveries.

InPost’s founder, the Polish entrepreneur Rafal Brzoska, initially started a business distributing leaflets before setting up a network of postal lockers. He said the trial with the Post Office was “creating even greater convenience for millions of people while supporting branches with increased footfall and new revenue opportunities”.

The Post Office, under new chief executive Neil Brocklehurst, is looking for ways to boost revenue for postmasters. “We will evaluate this trial and, in particular, the benefits it has brought to our postmasters and their branches and look forward to working with InPost over the next few months,” Brocklehurst said.

Neil Brocklehurst, chief executive of the Post Office joined in 2024 after 15 years at National Lottery operator Camelot

THE POST OFFICE

InPost has been expanding on the back of consumer anxiety about what has been termed “porch pirates” who steal parcels from doorsteps.

The system works by giving customers QR codes on their phones that can be scanned at the lockers. This triggers the opening of a locker, where customers can either deposit a parcel, or collect one. For InPost, it cuts out the “last mile” of delivery, to and from customers’ homes, and so is a lower cost alternative to door-to-door delivery.

French-owned DPD claims to have 12,000 parcel stores in Britain and earlier this year announced a tie-up with YEEP, a locker provider, to add another another 8,000 lockers over the next five years. Royal Mail is also rolling out its distinctive red postal lockers with retailers such as the Co-op. Evri — formerly known as Hermes — and Amazon are among other companies offering lockers.