A parcel delivery firm has announced a recruitment drive in a Sussex town.
Evri wants to hire 5,000 couriers across the UK, with a focus on Hastings, as it enters the business letter market.
The recruitment drive is part of the company's growth plan after forming a partnership with DHL’s UK ecommerce arm.
The new roles will bring the total number of self-employed couriers to 33,000.
Of the 5,000 new jobs, 1,000 will be permanent, while the rest are flexible positions for busy periods.
The company, which used to be part of the Hermes parcel group, was bought by US private equity firm Apollo for around £2.7 billion last year.
It now plans to enter the UK business letter market for the first time.
Evri has invested £32 million to improve its customer service offering and has seen an improvement in ratings over recent years.
However, it acknowledges that more needs to be done to address delivery issues.
Couriers typically earn an average of £20.90 per hour.
Chief executive Martijn de Lange said: "We know that service, reliability and quality are critical factors for our clients and consumers, and so by expanding our self-employed network further, we remain focused on delivering in each of those areas."