Related Articles
The shops will also open during evenings and weekends, providing longer hours than many Post Office branches.
Royal Mail is expanding its parcel network by rebranding around 8,000 convenience stores across the UK as “Royal Mail Shops”, part of a broader shift away from letters and towards parcels under its new ownership.
Parent company International Distribution Services (IDS) has bought a 49% stake in parcel network Collect+ for £43.9 million ($59mn). The deal will see thousands of stores offer services such as sending, collecting and returning parcels, and for the first time sell postage over the counter rather than requiring online payment. The shops will also open during evenings and weekends, providing longer hours than many Post Office branches.
The service, already live in 500 locations, builds on a 2024 partnership between Royal Mail and Collect+. Online marketplace Vinted became the first retailer to offer collections from the new outlets last month, with more expected to follow.
The expansion is part of a wider strategy by Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský, who took control of IDS in a £3.6 billion ($4.6bn) deal earlier this year. As part of efforts to modernise the 500-year-old postal service, Royal Mail has rolled out parcel lockers, trialled larger-capacity “postboxes of the future” and tested scrapping Saturday second-class deliveries, though that plan has been paused following union criticism.
Source link
