Boom in online shopping lifts DPD

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/64ffd934-275f ... z2BRg4fjPE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

High quality global journalism requires investment. Please share this article with others using the link below, do not cut & paste the article. See our Ts&Cs and Copyright Policy for more detail. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/64ffd934-275f ... z2BRwm9Z92" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

As many as 1,500 full-time jobs are to be created in the East Midlands by DPD, the parcel delivery group, which has pledged to spend

£175m to expand its UK capacity to cope with growing demand for retail goods ordered online.

DPD, a British parcel delivery subsidiary of France’s La Poste, the second largest postal group in Europe by revenues, will on Tuesday commit £175m over the next five years to build its fourth delivery hub in the UK, add 10 new branch depots, and upgrade its IT and GPS
systems.

The delivery group has benefited from the rise of online retailing in the UK, as customers increasingly avoid high street outlets in favour of goods bought over the internet.

The expansion follows a similar move by Royal Mail Group, which committed to spend £75m over four years on its UK express parcels business, creating some 1,000 jobs. Royal Mail said last week it would open a new parcel processing centre in Chorley, Lancashire, next year, and two new depots in Cornwall and Hampshire.

DPD is expanding to follow the shift from traditional business-to-business parcel delivery towards consumer-focused groups such as Asos, the fast-growing online clothing retailer, and Amazon.

“People love to shop online – we backed the right horse in 2006 when we chose to target e-commerce,” said Dwain McDonald, chief executive of DPD.

Mr McDonald said that the adoption of a GPS-based technology called Predict – which sends customers an email or text outlining a one-hour window for an expected delivery time – had proved crucial to the group’s UK expansion.

“With Predict we have a product that gives retailers greater confidence that their goods can be delivered both on time and straight into the hands of their customers. That helps them improve their customer service and helps encourage more repeat purchases,” he said.

Some £100m of the £175m investment will go towards constructing a delivery hub in a yet-to-be decided location in the East Midlands.

This will most likely be near junction 18 of the M1 motorway, near Rugby.

John Spellar, MP for Warley in West Midlands, told the Financial Times: “This is very welcome news from a very well-run company. This reinforces the Midlands’ reputation as the logistics hub of the nation.”

About 500 of the 1,500 new jobs are expected to be filled in 2013, with the highest demand for drivers and warehouse and administration staff.

At present, DPD employs some 4,200 people and operates more than 1,700 vehicles from more than 40 locations around the UK.

Some £20m will be spent on refurbishing two of DPD’s existing hubs, while £12m will go towards 10 new depots. The remainder will go towards upgrading DPD’s system as well as providing new GPS trackers for delivery drivers.