Chris Kane visits Stirling posties to show support in busy run-up to christmas

Chris Kane MP visited posties at the Stirling Delivery Office in his constituency to show his support during the busiest time of the year for the postal service. Around twice as many parcels and letters are sent through Royal Mail during the festive period compared with other months as people send Christmas cards and shop for gifts online.

He visited postal workers at the Stirling Delivery Office on Friday to find out more about what it takes to deliver letters and parcels in the peak Christmas period. Christmas is Royal Mail’s busiest period, with around double the normal volume of letters and parcels processed.

Chris spoke to Lead Customer Operations Manager Evan Donaldson about the Royal
Mail’s strategy to continue to make sending and receiving parcels as convenient as possible over the festive period by adding more choices. This includes services like Parcel Collect, where posties pick up parcels from customers at the doorstep, and offer more ways to drop off parcels at convenient times and locations. Royal Mail has already rolled out more than 5,000 parcel points this year, including at Collect+ stores and its growing number of parcel lockers.

Royal Mail prepares all year to deliver Christmas. Across the UK, the business has recruited 16,000 temporary workers to help its 85,000 posties sort the additional mail and the increasing number of parcels expected over the festive period. Almost 4,000 new vans, trucks and trailers are being added to the fleet in time for Christmas.

Stirling Delivery Office has hired 18 recruits and 10 extra vehicles for the Christmas period to meet the increased demand for deliveries in the local area.

Evan Donaldson said:
“It was great to have Chris visit our Delivery Office and to show him how we are gearing up for our peak period. We are pulling out all the stops to deliver Christmas for our customers.”

Chris Kane added: “Posties play a vital role in making Christmas special in the UK. Their hard work and dedication ensure that the festive season runs smoothly, and it wouldn’t be the same without them. After seeing the operation firsthand, I have gained an even deeper appreciation for the incredible effort they put in.”