LTB 091/25 - Large Parcel Migration Between Royal Mail and Parcelforce - Update

Angela Wright CWU Branch Communications Officer
7 hours ago
4 min read

No. 091/25

For the Immediate Attention of All:

Postal Branches

Regional Organisers

Divisional Representatives

Parcelforce Unit Representatives

Area Delivery Representatives

Area Distribution Representatives

Area Processing Representatives

Area Safety Representatives

Dear Colleagues,

Large Parcel Migration Between Royal Mail and Parcelforce – Update

Branches will recall the concept of utilising the synergies between Royal Mail and Parcelforce on progressing towards a Single Parcel Network for Large Parcels, as outlined in Section 5 of The Business Recovery Transformation & Growth Agreement (BRT&G). To aid this, Pilot activity has been undertaken with F4+ volume transferred directly from the Midland Superhub to the PFW Coventry Hub and via two MCs Preston and Manchester.

To date, these trials have proven successful.

The Building the Future project, documented via LTB 040/25, provides Parcelforce the required IT capabilities to enable interoperability of parcels between the RM and PFW networks. This is alongside other initiatives, including First Mile Integration starting with PFW POL Collections transferring into RM, covered in LTB 076/25.

The plan is to migrate up to 14m format 4 and above (F4+) parcels from RM to PFW in financial year 2025/2026. This represents c13% of all RM’s F4+ total annual parcel volumes and 1.2% of all RM’s annual parcel volumes. The breakdown of how these items will migrate is as follows:

3m (F4+) items via high volume (HV) direct injection customers;
1m (T48, F4+) items via one of our Parcel Hubs;
6m (T48, F4+) items via 31 of our Outward Mail Centre (OMC) Operations (including all existing Donor sites).

While some T24 F4+ items may be included in Customer Direct Injection volumes to meet the operational model, at this stage only T48 F4+ items can migrate from the current Royal Mail Network.

The operational plan is based on:

Day A: Collection, Outward Processing / Loading and Conveyance to PFW overnight;
Day B: PFW Processing and Conveyance to PFW Depots;
Day C: PFW Deliver items.

In RM on outward, Collection Hubs and Outward Mail Centres (OMCs) will segregate T48 F4+ items, conducting a scanning process and loose load items onto PFW trailers. These trailers are then sent to PFW Coventry National Hub (CNH) overnight for processing on the day shift and once migrated to PFW these items remain in the PFW network through to final delivery.

Whilst the current pilot has worked well, there will be continued learnings to manage. Therefore, it has been agreed the migration of Large Parcels will be via a phased roll-out plan, which includes three distinct pilot phases identified as follows:

Phase 1: Pilot activity including 6 OMCs and 1 Parcel Hub by end of May 2025;
Phase 2: Continued roll-out at a further 8 OMCs by end of June 2025;
Phase 3: Completion of all migration by no later than end of August 2025.

It is agreed that phasing the roll out will enable joint tracking of all pilot activity and assessments of any lessons learnt, which will be further incorporated into the Joint Working Group (JWG) on Large Parcel Migration. This JWG is made up of RM, PFW and CWU representation. The roll-out also provides PFW with a natural ramp-up of additional volumes with an intent to complete the full migration before we reach the Peak pressure period in 2025.

The Pilot activity has highlighted some concerns from Mail Centres, which are currently donor sites to the Super Hubs, and from Deliveries on the impact to the DPR Routes. Many of the concerns raised were down to misinformation from managers. These have been covered off and are highlighted below:

Limited workload impact on OMC operations due to requirement to segregate, scan and loose load trailer(s) destined for PFW;
Fourteen of the OMCs are already donor sites to both Midlands and Northwest Super Hubs, which will mean that the F4+ T48 items will be diverted to PFW instead of the respective Super Hubs. There is no intention, as part of this project, for donor sites to redirect compensatory volume to the Super Hubs;
Network implications are being incorporated into the annual Network Review and will include adjustments to current schedules based on volume and the introduction of direct services from the OMCs to the PFW Coventry Hub;
IMCs will see an impact on all Inward Operations with a minor reduction of workload;
Mail Centre realignment is planned for late June 2025 and will incorporate the workload impact into a revised model week calculation;
Delivery functions (DPR and Core) will see on average c35 less items per day per delivery office. Consequently, DPR route structures will be reviewed in line with the reduction in volume and subsequent stops per hour impact. As such. it is not intended to activate DPR volume moving to core delivery routes from this project within 2025;
PFW Processing and Depot Night Shift Operations will be reviewed to align resource to accommodate increased volume.

In addition to the above points, the business has shared with both departments the breakdown of volumes per Mail Centre and DPR Office and the overall impact in Delivery is on average circa 1 less DPR route per office. Therefore, this will be managed in line with National Agreements and ensuring the reduction of agency / casual use will be achieved in the first instance. This information will be supplied to CWU representatives via internal memos in due course.

We have now agreed words with the business on this activity and these are attached along with associated data covering the future roll out of the sites, Flowchart covering the migration and the SOPs.

As highlighted, the activity will be monitored through the Large Parcel Migration Joint Working Group. Both departments agreed a national launch call with the business, which has taken place today. Please find attached the slides used today along with WTLL materials, which will be used to ensure that the criteria are fully understood and deployed consistently, ensuring that connectivity and quality of service is maintained.

Any enquiries in relation to this LTB should be addressed to Davie Robertson, Assistant Secretary, email: jrodrigues@cwu.org or Tony Bouch, Assistant Secretary, email: Pharacz@cwu.org.

Yours sincerely,