DPD on recruitment and tech drive as online booms during pandemic

Parcel delivery firm DPD has announced 6,000 new UK jobs and an infrastructure investment in response to what it calls “the unprecedented boom in online shopping caused by Covid-19”.

The company, which works with the likes of John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Amazon and Morrisons, has earmarked £200 million this year for expansion of its next-day parcel capacity, including £100 million on vehicles, £60 million on 15 new regional depots and the remainder on technology.

The new jobs will include delivery and HGV drivers, warehouse staff, management positions and support staff, including mechanics. All of this will be in place before Black Friday as DPD prepares for what it predicts will be the busiest Cyber Weekend and Christmas period, in its history.

Dwain McDonald, DPD's CEO comments: "We are experiencing the biggest boom in online retailing in the UK's history and we are making this unprecedented investment in our infrastructure and people to ensure we can continue to meet the high levels of demand for our services.”

“What we have seen in recent months is potentially a much more significant shift in behaviour, and we believe elements of it will be permanent. As a company, we've been dealing with rapid growth and ongoing investment cycles for a long time, but this is a very significant moment.”

He believes that the high street will bounce back, but adds that his company has to base its modelling on conversations with retailers and their projections.

“It looks like there will remain a much greater reliance on e-commerce in the future - that's going to be our ‘new normal'. This investment and expansion mean that we will continue to be right there for our retail customers, alongside them, with the capacity to cope with the demand they are seeing online,” McDonald concludes.