About Evri
Our Journey
From our roots as a mail order company nearly 50 years ago, we’ve grown considerably over the decades – and we’ve had a few name changes along the way. Evri launched in March 2022 following a successful rebrand from Hermes UK.
Now, with our friendly team of 20,000+ couriers, 10,000+ local one-stop ParcelShops and Lockers and a growing network of state-of-the-art hubs and depots, Evri provides delivery solutions for anyone who wants to send a parcel in the UK and to more than 220 international destinations.
Our combination of speed, value and service has made us the partner of choice for over 80% of the UK’s biggest retailer brands as well as fast-growing market-place online platforms like Vinted and Etsy and consumers looking for alternatives to traditional carriers.
Our Business
We invest in physical, technological, and people infrastructures, to ensure we continue to deliver for all our stakeholders and to prosper in a challenging market.
Our vision: To lead the way in creating responsible delivery experiences for everyone, everywhere.
Our mission: To offer the most convenient way to send, receive and return parcels without costing the earth.
Our business model: Designed with flexibility and scale in mind to meet the pace of change demanded by our clients and the market.
In 2022 we successfully rebranded from Hermes to Evri and refreshed the core values that guide our actions and activities:
- Do the right thing
For our people, for our communities, for our planet. - Be dynamic
Dare to be different, seize opportunities, own it. - Celebrate cost leadership
Spend like it's your own, know your numbers, invest in our future. - Deliver for customers
Understand our customers, go the extra mile, care for every parcel.
Over the last five years, we have tripled the size of the business and we are looking to double the size of the company again over the next five years as we continue to outperform the wider delivery market. Key areas of growth include international, fulfilment, out of home and returns.
A proud history spanning nearly 50 years
From our roots as a mail order company nearly 50 years ago, we’ve grown considerably over the decades – and we’ve had a few name changes along the way. Evri launched in March 2022 following a successful rebrand from Hermes UK.
| Timeline | Key milestone |
|---|---|
| Timeline 1974 | Key milestone Our success story started as Grattan Mail Order - in Bradford, Yorkshire. Here, the home delivery model was launched. |
| Timeline 1988 | Key milestone Next Directory was launched, and 48-hour delivery was becoming the standard. By this time, Couriers were delivering more than 80% of Grattan's parcels! |
| Timeline 1999 | Key milestone Grattan and Freeman’s Catalogue Company merged their delivery infrastructures to become Parcelnet. Meanwhile, many leading retailers were launching their own transactional websites. Then, customer confidence in online shopping started to grow, which was helped by the launch of online parcel tracking in 2004. |
| Timeline 2008 | Key milestone Parcelnet rebranded as Hermes Parcelnet Ltd as it formed closer links with its sister company in Germany. |
| Timeline 2010 | Key milestone We introduced the first ParcelShop, for people to send items conveniently from a chosen location. Now, the company has a nationwide network of ParcelShops to choose from. |
| Timeline 2014 | Key milestone Hermes became the first UK delivery firm to offer a 7-day-a-week service and launched 3 more initiatives: A dedicated international division, giving retailers easy access to consumers in 20 European countries! myHermes’ own 7-day and international delivery solutions Small Business Accounts for SMEs wanting to send over 150 parcels per week |
| Timeline 2018 | Key milestone “The Parcel People” became the new Hermes strapline, launched along with the new brand and fleet colours in 2018. The first low-carbon biomethane CNG truck was introduced, too, alongside EVs in London. |
| Timeline 2020 | Key milestone Business continued to grow, with the Covid-19 lockdown increasing customer interest in online shopping, boosting sales for online retailers. It was Hermes that helped deliver people’s all-important parcels. In 2020, Biomethane CNG accounted for 30% of the core tractor fleet. It was then that Hermes transformed, with the company - Advent International, investing in Hermes UK to launch the Transformation Programme and ESG Steering Committee. |
| Timeline 2021 | Key milestone Hermes launched the new ESG strategy. |
| Timeline 2022 | Key milestone Hermes rebranded as Evri in March 2022 and we’ve seen continued success since, outperforming the market. The Barnsley ‘superhub’ also opened for business in 2022, which is the greenest site in our network to date. |
| Timeline 2023 | Key milestone Evri is the UK’s biggest dedicated parcel delivery company delivering over 700 million parcels per year. We have a friendly team of 20,000+ Couriers, alongside 10,000+ ParcelShops and Lockers, and our low prices make sending parcels affordable. You can learn even more about us across our website, and even start sending parcels through our network. |
Our Strategy
Over the last five years we have tripled the size of the business and we are looking to double the size of the company again over the next five years as we continue to outperform the wider delivery market.
Maintain growth
We have held onto covid-related volume growth ahead of the market, partly driven by diversifying our business to capture new market trends and partnerships:
- In May 2023, we announced that Amazon has made Evri an accredited Seller Fulfilled Prime carrier for its Prime service to deliver parcels on behalf of all merchants on the Amazon website.
- In 2022, we secured an agreement with the Post Office to trial in-branch sales, parcel pick-ups and drop-offs – providing a safe and convenient location for customers to send, collect and return their parcels. This is the first time in the Post Office’s 360-year history it is directly selling end-to-end delivery products not fulfilled by Royal Mail through a third party.
Keeping pace
Evolving and diversified sectors underpinned by growing demand:
- Evri operates in a strong and growing market, with the e-commerce market growing exponentially since the pandemic, with all of us sending and receiving more parcels than ever before, despite a bounce back in high street shopping.
- Our clients include more than 700 retailers including 80% of the UK’s top 100, serving over 12 million customers per week.
- The combination of speed, value, and service has made Evri the partner of choice for the UK’s biggest retailer brands, including Next, John Lewis, M&S and ASOS – as well as fast-growing marketplaces like Etsy and pre-loved platforms like Vinted.
Infrastructure
Strong investment in infrastructure and delivery network to drive continued growth:
- Evri has responded to this changing marketplace with a strategic growth programme, focused on investments in its capacity, people, and capabilities with over £130m invested in the last two years alone.
- The biggest of these investments is the new super-hub in Barnsley, at 340,000 sq ft, it's the biggest parcel distribution centre in Europe, and Evri's most technologically advanced site giving the business capacity of any dedicated parcel delivery company.
- We operate over 500 sites across the UK, including 6 hubs and more than 25 depots and hundreds of delivery units.
Customer service
- In 2023, Evri launched a new chatbot and we are pleased to say we are already seeing positive results with satisfaction rates almost doubling. The new bot is connecting around 47% more customers to an advisor in those situations that can’t be resolved automatically.
- In September 2023, we will launch a new automated phone line – Interactive Voice Response – which will provide customers with another way to connect with us and will trigger a call-back from our customer service team where appropriate – expected to connect around 40% more people through to an advisor.
Technology
Evri continues to invest in its market-leading technology platform
- Evri will continue to invest in technology to drive efficiency and enhance service across the operation. This enables the 1-hour ETA; a market-leading returns proposition, and new products, such as packageless returns, customer verification, doorstep refunds and our out-on-the road diversion from home delivery to a ParcelShop if a customer is out.