A Parcelforce to be reckoned with

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Sean Magorrian, area general manager for Parcelforce, believes that the Royal Mail company has a first-class delivery service all wrapped up.

Parcelforce is one of the top express delivery firms, how does it intend to retain that position?

Through never standing still or resting on our laurels. We regularly ask our customers what they want and continuously develop our services to ensure we meet and exceed their requirements. Everything we do is driven by our customers, from new services to continuous investment in customer service excellence and IT.

How does Parcelforce compete with increased competition in the marketplace?

As well as the investments in capacity, IT, new services and infrastructure, we've developed unique customer service and reporting solutions, such as our timed taskforce that proactively monitors all timed deliveries, phoning customers with any updates, which means more customers are staying with Parcelforce Worldwide than ever before.

Parcelforce is part of the Royal Mail Group which has increased its profit in the face of global economic recession. How have you managed this?

By concentrating on adding value to our services. Parcelforce Worldwide has continued to grow throughout the recession when most of our competitors have experienced a reduction in turnover and profit, every one of our services has grown year-on-year as customers switch traffic to us because of recommendation, excellent value for money and security.

You claim to be an environment-conscious institution, but how do you practise this?

We are absolutely committed to improving our environmental performance and have a dedicated programme to help us achieve this.

It’s extremely broad ranging and includes measures such as rolling out 1100 Mercedes Eco-Start vehicles which cut out when stationary as part of our focus on reducing the emissions; the testing of alternative fuel and energy vehicles, providing recycling facilities at depots, and installing meter readers to enable timely analysis of energy consumption and so to aid energy reduction.

The fact that 98.9% of our electricity is from renewable sources shows we are making good progress.

This winter was the coldest in 100 years with virtually every part of the UK impacted by heavy snow. What was the impact and how did you cope?

The severity and prolonged nature of the disruption caused by the snow and freezing conditions meant that many of our sites across the UK were affected, although thankfully we managed to avoid the worst of the weather in Northern Ireland and kept the network moving well. As the impact varied depending on the area, we had to adapt our approach depending on local conditions. Nationally, this involved contacting customers to agree arrangements where we weren't able to collect, and deferring some collections and deliveries until the weather improved.

While traditional mail volumes have fallen by 5.5%, on-line shopping has generated a massive increase in parcel/packet traffic. This must be a big opportunity for Parcelforce — how are you capitalising on this?

In the last year our home delivery traffic has grown by 10%. We're continuing to invest in increased capacity, new vehicles and systems to support this exceptional growth.

What influenced Parcelforce’s decision to become a sponsor for the Belfast Telegraph Business Awards?

We’ve been involved in the awards since their inception and there’s no doubt that they provide us with a wonderful opportunity to raise our profile and showcase our unique strengths. We are particularly pleased to sponsor the Excellence in Exporting Achievement as we are already successful in this market and are keen to exploit this potential further. In essence, we want to position ourselves as the UK’s most trusted high-value express carrier and the Belfast Telegraph Business Awards assist us in that goal.

Have you invested in the business or technology to ensure a better service or quicker delivery time?

In the last year after a significant investment in IT, infrastructure and support services, we’ve introduced a whole new range of services including faster and |more convenient options such as expressPM (delivery the next day in the afternoon, completing our existing AM options) and Global Express, our fastest international delivery service.

How many parcels would you handle annually?

Over 50 million parcels a year.

Any exciting plans in the pipeline?

We have but they are still in the development stage at the moment. Watch this space!



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