Keith O'Keeffe departs Doddle to focus on OOH delivery and parcel locker network at Royal Mail
Keith O'Keeffe has joined Royal Mail as Head of Network Deployments. He was previously at Doddle, part of Blue Yonder, where he spent just over eight years, most recently serving as Director of Operations.
“I could not be more excited to lead the charge scaling up our parcel locker network building on the fantastic work the team have done to date,” he says. “Out of home (for me) is the most exciting sector and now is the most exciting time to be a part of with innovation and customer adoption growing rapidly as well as expectations for a seemless experience and a wide choice of PUDO locations to choose from.”
He adds: “Having spent the last decade exclusively in OOH I’m incredibly excited to put those skills and experiences to use and drive growth across our locker network.”
Tesco
Earlier this year, Royal Mail launched a new parcel locker trial at selected Tesco stores across the UK, enabling people to collect, send and return parcels 24/7.
The six-month trial will see lockers installed outside Tesco stores, enabling customers to access them at any time. The first of these are now live at stores in: Ashby-de-la-Zouch; Barrow; Burnham-on-Sea; Bury; Cullompton; Horwich; March; and Preston.
Royal Mail lockers feature label printing, with the aim of making the process convenient for customers who do not have access to a printer. To use them, people need to pay for postage online and get a QR code or request a QR code if they are returning a purchase.
Royal Mail now has 25,000 locations where customers can drop off and collect parcels, including 2,600 lockers, 11,500 Post Office branches, 8,000 Royal Mail Shop outlets, 1,200 Royal Mail Customer Service Points and 1,400 parcel postboxes. The company also delivers to and collects from every address across the UK.
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
Parcel lockers will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.
The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Check out our 2025 winners here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
