Parcel firm DPD creates 1,500 jobs

Up to 1,500 new UK jobs are set to be created as part of £175 million expansion plans by parcel delivery company DPD.

It is proposing a new £100 million sorting hub in the East Midlands and will spend a further £12 million building 10 new depots over the next 15 months as it looks to meet growing demand for its service from online retailers.

The business, which is based in Smethwick in the West Midlands and is a subsidiary of French-owned La Poste, said it has clinched £70 million of new business as a result of its Predict service, which uses GPS technology to provide customers with a one-hour delivery window.

Today's announcement comes days after Royal Mail said it would create some 1,000 jobs over four years as part of a £75 million investment in its express parcels business.

DPD said 500 of the jobs would be created next year.

It will also spend £20 million upgrading its existing network of 40 locations and invest in new technology for drivers, as well as in security and its IT infrastructure.

DPD chief executive Dwain McDonald said: "The online retail market is expanding rapidly with consumers now prepared to buy a much wider range of goods online."

The location of the new sorting hub, which will be the company's fourth, has yet to be decided but DPD is looking at sites near Rugby and Leicester.

PA