Royal Mail is keeping on 10,000 temporary workers as it hit new delivery records in 2020

Royal Mail to keep 10,000 temporary workers after record Christmas (Photo: Shutterstock)Royal Mail to keep 10,000 temporary workers after record Christmas (Photo: Shutterstock)
Royal Mail to keep 10,000 temporary workers after record Christmas (Photo: Shutterstock)

Royal Mail will be retaining 10,000 of its 33,000 temporary festive workers in an effort to improve service times through the year.

The festive period saw the company carry 11.7 million parcels in one day, and it had a record number of deliveries at the end of 2020.

Apology for gaps in service

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Chairman Keith Williams of Royal Mail apologised for the gaps in the businesses service over Christmas. Mr Williams said: “Given these record volumes, we recognise that at times our service during the period was not always as we would have wished.

“But, thanks to the efforts of our team, the retention of around 10,000 of the 33,000 flexible workers from the Christmas peak, and the introduction of new processes, we have been making encouraging progress.

“We are resolutely focused on delivering a comprehensive service despite the challenging circumstances.”

The delivery service carried 496 million parcels over the last three months of 2020, which was an all time record.

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Royal Mail's revenue in the first nine months of the financial year grew by nearly 14 per cent, hitting £9.7 million. It now expects to make an operating profit “well in excess” of £500 million in the financial year ending in March.

The third quarter success for the company was driven by Christmas and Black Friday, and the tighter restrictions brought into place in November, according to the business.

Because of the Covid-19 restrictions currently in place, the company has experienced a good start to 2021, with growth increasing by 37 per cent.

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