Our response to BBC Panorama

An Evri spokesperson said:

“The BBC Panorama programme, deliberately airing during our busiest season, relies on cherry-picked and skewed cases that do not reflect who we are or the dedication of thousands of local couriers serving their communities everyday. The Panorama team has withheld relevant and specific information to allow us to fully review and fairly respond.

“Evri provides a fast, reliable, and cost-effective delivery service, and will deliver about 900 million parcels this year to over 25 million households through its 34,000 self-employed couriers who choose to work for us and are attracted by flexible work in their communities.

“Our benchmark-setting delivery rates, which exceed punctuality targets of many other industries, and exceptional growth are driven by our strong investment and the trust placed in us by customers ranging from small businesses to major high street retailers.

“We have an industry leading and GMB backed pay scheme for our regular self-employed couriers which offers pensions and holiday and sick pay.

“Evri couriers generate earnings significantly above the National Living Wage, with average earnings exceeding £20 per hour, and our model was approved by HMRC after a multi-year review. Despite requesting details, Panorama did not provide specific information on pay to review these claims, as part of a fair right of reply.

“If any courier has concerns about their pay or working conditions, we have clear, rapid processes to address them and work closely with the GMB to listen and act and have a history of constructive engagement that has led to improvements for couriers. We take health and safety very seriously, and where there is a risk that our standards are not fully met, we audit sites to check safety and compliance.

“Parcels are labelled by clients, such as retailers, not Evri. And 99.2% of all parcels are correctly banded. Couriers can request checks and upgrades via the courier app if they think a parcel has been misbanded. We have also invested in proactive processes which identifies any misbands and correct rates. We introduced a new small packet rate in February 2025 in response to competition in the market – with the clear intention that couriers will benefit from increased volumes from this change.

“At a time when many companies are reducing headcount and unemployment is growing, we’re proud to be creating thousands of opportunities – and last week announced we will create an additional 2,500 jobs, including courier roles.”