Parcelforce

{{Short description|Courier and logistics service in the United Kingdom}} {{Use British English|date=October 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}} {{Infobox company | name = Parcelforce Worldwide | logo = Parcelforce.svg | type = [[Trading name]] | genre = | foundation = 1990  | founder = | location = {{nowrap|[[Milton Keynes]], England, UK}} | origins = | key_people = Aaron Barnes (Managing Director) | area_served = | industry = [[Mail|Postal Service]] | products = | services = | revenue = | operating_income = | net_income = | num_employees = 6,500 | parent = [[Royal Mail]] | divisions = | subsid = | owner = | slogan = | homepage = {{URL|https://parcelforce.com}} | dissolved = | footnotes = }} [[File:Parcel Force MX58HFB.jpg|thumb|right|A Parcelforce delivery vehicle in 2009]] [[File:Parcel Force vehicle in Chipping Barnet (3).JPG|thumbnail|Loading a Parcelforce van in [[Chipping Barnet]], 2015]] [[File:Vickers Viscount 806 G-OPAS (6888814215).jpg|thumbnail|Nose of a [[Vickers Viscount|Vickers Viscount 806]] G-OPAS formerly used for Parcelforce International]] '''Parcelforce Worldwide''' is a [[courier]] and [[logistics]] service in the United Kingdom. Parcelforce Worldwide is a trading name of [[Royal Mail]], which is a subsidiary of [[International Distribution Services]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parcelforce.com/help-information/about-us/our-company |title=Our company |date=2013 |website=Parcelforce Worldwide |access-date=14 April 2013 |archive-date=27 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130327005228/http://www.parcelforce.com/help-information/about-us/our-company |url-status=dead }}</ref> and is organised within the UK Parcels, International and Letters division of the group.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.royalmailgroup.com/our-businesses/ukpil/parcelforce-worldwide |title=Parcelforce Worldwide |date=2013 |website=Royal Mail |access-date=14 April 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120617032533/http://www.royalmailgroup.com/our-businesses/ukpil/parcelforce-worldwide |archive-date=17 June 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The company delivers to destinations worldwide, using an international partner network. Parcelforce Worldwide is a provider of express delivery services covering 99.6% of the world's population, with over 6,500 employees.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.parcelforce.com/about-parcelforce-worldwide |title=About Parcelforce Worldwide |date=2022 |website=Parcelforce Worldwide |access-date=16 September 2022}}</ref>

Its European delivery partner, [[General Logistics Systems]] (GLS), is also a subsidiary of International Distribution Services and delivers more than one million parcels a day across 34 countries in Europe.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parcelforce.com/help-information/about-us/our-partners |title=Our Partners |date=2013 |website=Parcelforce Worldwide |access-date=14 April 2013 |archive-date=17 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317092146/http://www.parcelforce.com/help-information/about-us/our-partners |url-status=dead }}</ref> Parcelforce Worldwide is a direct competitor of other worldwide delivery brands, such as [[DHL Express|DHL]], [[DX Group]], [[FedEx]] and [[United Parcel Service|UPS]].

Parcelforce Limited operates a "[[Spoke-hub distribution paradigm|hub and spoke]]" collection and delivery system with two hubs in the West Midlands, south of [[Coventry]]. One hub is for parcels for the United Kingdom, and the other for international parcels. The hub for the United Kingdom, one of the country's largest buildings, is a highly automated tracking and sorting centre covering {{convert|24000|m2|acre}} and can handle up to 58,500 parcels an hour.<ref name=Hubs>{{cite web |url=http://www.parcelforce.com/help-information/about-us/our-hubs |title=Our hubs |date=2013 |website=Parcelforce Worldwide |access-date=14 April 2013 |archive-date=17 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130317082614/http://www.parcelforce.com/help-information/about-us/our-hubs |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==History== The Parcel Post service of Royal Mail was started in 1883,<ref name="postalheritage.org.uk">{{cite web |url=http://www.postalheritage.org.uk/history/keydates/ |title=Key Dates |website=The British Postal Museum & Archive |access-date=5 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517212232/http://www.postalheritage.org.uk/history/keydates |archive-date=17 May 2011}}</ref> though parcel services operated by the railway companies, later [[Red Star Parcels]] and [[British Road Services]], were also heavily used for many decades. Royal Mail was split into three divisions in 1986<ref name="postalheritage.org.uk"/> and in March 1990, '''Royal Mail Parcels''' was rebranded as '''Parcelforce'''.

In July 1992, the [[Secretary of State for Trade and Industry]], [[Michael Heseltine]], proposed a privatisation of the Parcelforce business. He argued that the company provided most of its services to businesses rather than individuals, and that the competitive market it operated in meant there was no need for it to remain a [[publicly owned company]].<ref>{{cite Hansard |house=House of Commons |title=Parcelforce |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm199293/cmhansrd/1992-07-15/Debate-1.html |date=15 July 1992 | column=1137 |speaker=[[Michael Heseltine]] |position=The President of the Board of Trade and Secretary of State for Trade and Industry |accessdate=14 April 2013}}</ref>

In March 2002, the universal parcels service was transferred to [[Royal Mail]], leaving Parcelforce to concentrate on time-guaranteed, next-day and two-day express deliveries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=82484 |title=Consignia announces first moves in three year renewal plan |date=25 March 2002 |website=PR Newswire |access-date=5 January 2018}}</ref>

In January 2007, Parcelforce Worldwide became the first express carrier in the United Kingdom to give its customers the option to [[carbon offset|offset the carbon emissions]] associated with the delivery of their parcels. The company allowed customers to donate 5p for a delivery for the United Kingdom, or 10p for an international delivery to the [[Woodland Trust]]. Parcelforce would then match the donation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.brandrepublic.com/article/624866 |title=Parcelforce introduces carbon neutral delivery scheme |first=Daniel |last=Farey-Jones |date=9 January 2007 |website=[[Brand Republic]] |access-date=14 April 2013}}</ref>

In October 2012, Royal Mail announced an investment of £75 million in Parcelforce Worldwide planned over four years, which would involve the opening of new processing centres in [[Chorley, Lancashire]] and depots in [[Basingstoke, Hampshire]] and [[Bodmin, Cornwall]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://postandparcel.info/51487/news/companies/royal-mail-to-create-1000-jobs-expanding-parcel-network/ |title=Royal Mail to create 1,000 jobs expanding parcel network |date=30 October 2012 |website=Post & Parcel |access-date=14 April 2013}}</ref>

In September 2021, Aaron Barnes took over as managing director of Parcelforce Worldwide.<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 September 2021 |title=Parcelforce Worldwide on Twitter: "@CEOemail Hi, our new appointed MD is Aaron Barnes - Theo" / Twitter |url=https://twitter.com/parcelforce/status/1437767768770813952 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210914214139/https://twitter.com/parcelforce/status/1437767768770813952 |archive-date=14 September 2021 |access-date=5 July 2022 |website=Twitter}}</ref>

==Depot network== Parcelforce Worldwide operates its collection and delivery services via a network of 54 local depots.<ref name=Hubs/>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{commons category|Parcel Force}} * {{Official website}}

[[Category:Royal Mail]] [[Category:Logistics companies of the United Kingdom]] [[Category:Transport companies established in 1990]] [[Category:Express mail]] [[Category:Postal system of the United Kingdom]] [[Category:1990 establishments in the United Kingdom]]