Spring UK to offer domestic delivery

Spring UK, which is wholly owned by PostNL, has said that the integration of Hermes, Yodel and DHL Parcel UK to its platform means that it is now able to domestic delivery services for the first time.

Managing Director, Steve Ferguson, explained that the firm had previously only been able to support online retailers exploiting the growing appetite for UK brands in foreign marketplaces.

He said that the latest announcement demonstrated Spring UK’s desire to offer clients “the broadest possible” portfolio of delivery providers to suit their needs.

“Our role is quite distinct from that of many other post and parcel businesses in that whilst we have a clear expertise and market-leading delivery services of our own to the Benelux countries, we increasingly act as a broker or consultant to leading brands.

“To fulfil that role effectively and honestly, we need to be able to offer a wide range of services rather than merely pushing our own.

“As the significant rise in volumes for this peak season and the growing number of retailers with which we are working both show, ours is an approach which is paying dividends – both for them and for ourselves.

“We believe that as the delivery market becomes more segmented and, for instance, a larger proportion of sales made by UK-based retailers of all sizes continue to go to European consumers, there will be an even greater requirement for the kind of service that we offer.”

Recent research concluded that Hermes handled 314 million packages over the last year, making it the UK’s second largest parcel carrier.

The same study found that there were

3.2 billion parcels shipped in the UK in 2017, an increase of just over 8 % on the year before.

Mr Ferguson disclosed that Spring UK expected to handle 25 % more items in the run-up to this Christmas than it did during the same period last year.