Royal Mail to roll out UK's first ever parcel postboxes
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Monday 20 May 2019
(Sharecast News) - Royal Mail introduced Britain's first ever parcel postboxes on Monday, revealing that the revamped boxes would soon be rolled out in locations across the UK following a successful trial in 2018.
The company will covert a total of 1,400 existing postboxes in Birmingham, Leeds, Aberdeen and Cardiff into parcel postboxes, marking one of the biggest innovations in parcels since the launch of Parcel Post in 1883.
As a result of the repurposing, small businesses and marketplace sellers will be able to post pre-paid parcels through securely designed parcel postboxes, in the same way that they currently post a letter. Customers will also be able to post some return parcels at any time, seven days a week.
Royal Mail's head of campaigns Mark Street said "The wide-scale introduction of parcel postboxes is one of the many ways we at Royal Mail are looking to make the lives of our customers easier.
"The parcel postboxes trial last year was a success, and we hope that the wider roll-out gives added flexibility to online sellers who might be running a business in their spare time and not keeping regular office hours."
Over the weekend, MPs were warned that the Post Office network was close to collapse, with 2,500 branches at risk of being shuttered in the coming year.
The news comes as Downing Street readies itself to end its subsidy of the Post Office network in 2021.
More than a fifth of sub-postmasters intend to resign or downsize due to heightened financial pressures, according to a survey by the National Federation of SubPostmasters.
"The closure of 2,500 post offices in a year would be a catastrophic loss to communities across the UK," said the NFSB.
Royal Mail, whose agreement with the Post Office draws to an end in January 2022, has encouraged customers to use its direct services instead of going through the post office network.
As of 1335 BST, Royal Mail shares had dipped 2.61% to 231.98p.
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