International Distribution Services

Today we issued our trading update for Q3 2024-25. This latest performance keeps the business on track to return to an adjusted operating profit by the end of the financial year. It represents a significant milestone in the turnaround of Royal Mail and a solid foundation for the future of IDS. Highlights include: 📦 Royal Mail’s high level of reliability, ensuring 99% of all items posted on or before the last recommended posting dates arriving in time for Christmas. 📦 Strong growth in tracked parcels with Royal Mail’s state of the art parcel hubs processing over 75 million during Christmas. 📦 Both parcel and revenue growth for GLS. The new Paris hub opened in September 2024 providing more capacity and the US parcel business saw improved profitability. IDS CEO, Martin Seidenberg, said: “I'm proud of my colleagues across Royal Mail and GLS who went above and beyond for our customers this Christmas.   “At Royal Mail, we've made more progress to adapt to customer demand, delivering Christmas, driving growth and offering customers more convenient options to send and receive parcels.   “GLS saw good export volume growth and continued to invest in strategic initiatives, such as the roll out of parcel lockers across Europe, strengthening its network.” Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eacnbMe7

This week Royal Mail announced the launch of its own network of parcel lockers. The first 250 will be rolled out in the next few months, outside of Royal Mail delivery offices and other convenient locations, providing 24/7 access. It’s part of our greater strategy to meet the increased demand for parcel services created by the growth in online shopping – it’s all about giving customers as much choice as possible. The first locker was unveiled outside of Royal Mail’s historic Mount Pleasant mail centre in London this week. #royalmail #IDS #onlineshopping #parcellockers

Today we announced our half year results for 2024-25. Despite a difficult market environment, we are pleased to announce we delivered revenue growth and returned to an adjusted operating profit. Royal Mail modernisation continues at pace, with innovative measures to improve services for customers. Investment in GLS continues, expanding its network of lockers and collection points and pushing its global service across the US and Asia-Pacific. IDS CEO, Martin Seidenberg, said: “I would like to thank all our colleagues across the Group for their continued hard work, dedication to serving our customers every day and the role they have played in the progress we have made.” Some highlights: 📦 Revenue of £6,343 million, up £481 million 📦 Adjusted operating profit of £61 million 📦 Revenue growth for Royal Mail of 10.7% 📦 GLS revenue growth of 4.4%   Read the full report here: https://lnkd.in/eSwantGn

Delighted to take part in WTW's event last week to celebrate Royal Mail's Collective Pension Plan launch, alongside the CWU, Unite and the Trustee, and look at what's next for UK pensions.   Over 100 participants heard from Royal Mail's Jenny Hall and the Pensions Minister, Emma Reynolds MP, who welcomed Royal Mail's scheme and spoke about the Government's future pensions review. Angela Gough, Royal Mail's Head of Corporate Pensions then spoke on a panel about what's next from an industry perspective.

Expanding Royal Mail's electric fleet helps us better reach the homes of our customers, but also works towards the company’s target of net-zero by 2040.   These latest additions bear the cypher of King Charles III. This iconic symbol, which is a privilege to display, is one of the reasons why Royal Mail is one of the most recognised brands in the world. Read more below 👇

In the latest edition of the Courier, Royal Mail's in-house magazine, we discussed the significant investment we've made in parcels. This includes: 📦 Three new Parcel Sorting Machines to join the existing 36 - these PSMs have vastly increased our efficiency in sorting parcels. 📦 Introducing more Large Parcel Conveyors to support increased parcel growth and improve capacity at our mail centres. 📦 Continuing to expand our growing parcel lockers network, making sending and receiving parcels as convenient as possible. It's all part of our efforts to meet the needs of our customers across the UK, and with parcel volumes growing, it puts us on the right track to prosper in the future. Read the full piece below.

Innovation doesn’t stop at new services for customers and investing in the latest technology. Royal Mail today announced the launch of its Collective Defined Contribution pension plan. The plan is an innovative new scheme which offers over 100,000 employees a cash lump sum and an income in retirement. We have worked hard with our unions, the Government, the Pensions Regulator, and the Trustee of the Collective Plan to make it possible and we are delighted to have finally reached this point. We’d like to thank everyone involved in the process - all our advisers, service providers, technicians, admin teams and the Trustee Executive team - for their support throughout the process. This pioneering scheme is the right one for Royal Mail and its people. To read more visit: https://lnkd.in/eKp2GeJj

We are committed to delivering the future of logistics. To that end, we strategically invest in our companies, in order to enhance our network and deliver the best service for our customers. At GLS, this week we opened our new national parcels hub in the South of Paris. GLS is one of the largest parcel service providers in Europe, with a growing presence in North America. This state-of-the-art facility is equipped with the latest technologies and was designed to meet the needs of today’s e-commerce market. Key facts: 📦 Improved delivery tracking using geo-localised services 📦 Allows last-minute changes for ultra-flexible delivery options 📦 Processes 15,000 parcels/hour with the highest quality standards with each taking 2 minutes 30 seconds from entry to exit 📦 Meets the strictest environmental standards and aligns with GLS’ sustainability objectives 📦 Enhances GLS' capabilities in the parcel transport market, both in France and internationally Read more here: https://lnkd.in/d27gZk3X

Today we held our Annual General Meeting at Newbury Racecourse. Led by Chairman Keith Williams and Group CEO Martin Seidenberg, we discussed the encouraging performance of IDS, and important recent developments, notably the offer from EP Group. This has been a year of change with good progress for IDS and its companies, Royal Mail and GLS. Royal Mail continues on its upward trajectory, having made good progress in its modernisation agenda, improving quality and winning back customers. GLS has built on its track record of growth and outperformed its peers with revenue growth across all markets. However, there is still much more to do. We would like to thank all those who attended, both in person and online.  

“I’ve always taken jobs that were about transformation, change and fixing things, but then also having the ability to grow.”   Group CEO Martin Seidenberg met with The Times last week to reflect on his first year in post and what the future looks like for International Distribution Services.   In the wide-ranging interview, he discussed the reasons he took the role, the steps taken to improve deliveries, and the need for urgent reform to the Universal Service Obligation.   Read the full piece here [behind paywall]: https://lnkd.in/e8G6yFbK