Royal Mail’s ‘most important’ change that will impact every household in UK

Royal Mail is rolling out a major transformation to parcel services across Britain. The postal operator is launching a six-month trial designed to offer enhanced convenience for households nationwide.

The trial will see 24-hour parcel lockers installed outside selected Post Office branches, enabling customers to use services beyond standard opening times. Anna Malley, Director of Partnerships and Acquisitions at Royal Mail, said: “Post Office is one of Royal Mail’s most important partners, and this is an exciting step forward in how we work together. The trial reflects our commitment to meeting a wide range of customer needs whilst also maintaining existing options.”

Neill O’Sullivan, Mails and Parcels Director at Post Office, said: “We are delighted that after a 370-year partnership with Royal Mail, we continue to innovate and ensure parcel services meet the needs of customers who want the flexibility of using a locker for their parcel collection and delivery.

“We will evaluate this trial, and in particular the benefits it has brought to our postmasters and look forward to working with Royal Mail over the next few months on this trial.”

The move comes nine months after Royal Mail and Sainsbury’s announced a long-term partnership introducing parcel lockers at Sainsbury’s stores across the country, reports Birmingham Live. Sainsbury’s has become the first supermarket retailer to collaborate with Royal Mail on its rapidly expanding network of parcel drop-off and collection points.

Royal Mail launched its parcel locker network in December 2024, responding to a surge in demand for accessible parcel drop-off and collection facilities, as well as catering to the growing number of second-hand marketplace vendors.

Upon launch, Jack Clarkson, Group Strategy and Transformation Director at Royal Mail, remarked: “Partnering with a retailer with the scale and popularity of Sainsbury’s is great news for our customers and the UK public, who will now have even more ways to drop off and collect their parcels in convenient locations.

“Due to the relentless growth in online shopping and secondhand marketplaces, there is increased demand from our customers for more parcel drop off and collection points.

“To meet our goal of making sending and receiving parcels as easy as possible, we must considerably expand our network. This is the start of an exciting partnership with Sainsbury’s that will help us to meet that goal at pace.”