TNT Post UK expands last mile delivery into North West London
Royal Mail’s only major rival in the field of house-to-house mail delivery has announced plans to double its workforce in London to 2,000.
TNT Post UK, which has been running three-day-a-week last mile delivery services for business mail in West London since April 2012, said today it is starting the next phase of expansion by creating 400 delivery jobs in the north west of London.
The new postal delivery staff officially begin today in Camden, Willesden, Colindale and Harrow, using bicycles to complete their rounds and with each letter scanned to allow them to be tracked to the door.
TNT Post UK, owned by Dutch postal operator PostNL, has opened four delivery units in North West London and Harrow, to add to the 12 delivery units already operating in parts of Central, West and South West London.
The expansion follows the company’s new financial partnership with Lloyd’s Bank equity arm LDC, which ultimately aims to see the last mile delivery service reach across the UK. Last November the service expanded outside London for the first time, to Manchester.
TNT Post is aiming to create 20,000 jobs in its mail delivery business over the next five years. The company also provides downstream access mail services, in which mail is collected from businesses and sorted before entering Royal Mail’s last mile network for the final stage of delivery. With that business, the company currently handles about 300m items a month.
Recruitment
The company said its expansion has been creating jobs among the young and long-term unemployed.
The flexibility of the roles makes them “particularly appealing” for local residents including new parents returning to work, those seeking a second job and school/college leavers.
Nick Wells, the TNT Post CEO, said: “We are passionate about creating jobs. These jobs have been filled by people who may have found it difficult to get back into, or even join, the work force. These jobs are not only good news for North West London and Harrow but are also good news for the UK economy.”
TNT Post runs its own Pre-Employment Training course, but also works with employment agencies Job Centre Plus and Ingeus in the North West of London.
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The enterprise has received a warm welcome from London’s Mayor, Boris Johnson.
“I am very pleased to learn that TNT Post are set to double their workforce in our great city,” he said. “I am particularly pleased to hear that their new posties will rely solely on pedal power to deliver their letters and look forward to seeing them on the streets of the capital.”
Commenting on TNT Post UK’s announced expansion today, Royal Mail highlighted its recent survey showing that householders want mail delivered six days per week.
Stephen Cameron, Operations Director, Royal Mail South East said: “Royal Mail welcomes competition, but it needs to be on a level playing field. Our competitors can cherry pick areas in which to deliver mail and determine the frequency of those deliveries. They are also not required to publish regular performance information about deliveries that is collected and verified independently.”
