LOCAL MP VISITS TARPORLEY POSTIES TO SHOW SUPPORT IN BUSY RUN-UP TO CHRISTMAS
Aphra Brandreth MP visited postal workers at Tarporley Delivery Office on Friday to find out more about what it takes to deliver letters and parcels in the peak Christmas period.
Christmas is Royal Mail’s busiest period, with around double the normal volume of letters and parcels processed. The local MP spoke to Customer Operations Manager Jemma Hillyer about Royal Mail’s strategy to continue to make sending and receiving parcels as convenient as possible over the festive period by adding more choice.
Royal Mail staff showed the MP services like Parcel Collect, where posties pick up parcels from customers at the doorstep, offering more ways to drop off parcels at convenient times and locations. Royal Mail has already rolled out more than 5,000 parcel points this year, including at Collect+ stores and its growing number of parcel lockers.
Royal Mail prepares all year to deliver at Christmas. Across the UK, the business has recruited 16,000 temporary workers to help its 85,000 posties sort the additional mail and increasing number of parcels expected over the festive period. Almost 4,000 new vans, trucks and trailers are being added to the fleet in time for Christmas.
Tarporley Delivery Office has hired two temporary members of staff and two extra vehicles for the Christmas period to meet increased demand for deliveries in the local area.
Jemma Hillyer, Lead Customer Operations Manager for Tarporley, said: “It was great to have Aphra visit our Delivery Office, and to show her how we are gearing up for our peak period. We are pulling out all the stops to deliver Christmas for our customers.”
Aphra Brandreth, Member of Parliament for Chester South and Eddisbury, said: “Royal Mail is an iconic part of Christmas in the UK – it wouldn’t be the same without our posties!
It was great to take a look behind the scenes and I’ve got a newfound appreciation for just how hard Royal Mail staff work to deliver our parcels and letters all year round.
Thank you to the Tarporley team for welcoming me during their busiest time of the year."
