Proactive Investors - Royal Mail (LON:IDSI) competitors DPD and Evri have both blamed postal worker strikes for disrupting their services as demand for alternatives has shot up.
Evri, formerly Hermes, said on its website that “high parcel volumes, Royal Mail strikes and staff shortages” are responsible for delays to its services, while DPD cited similar issues which has seen it no longer ensuring next day delivery.
Apologising to customers, both companies suggested they were struggling from a rapid increase in demand as people turned from away from Royal Mail to post cards and parcels in the run up to Christmas.
Reports emerged last week that ASOS (LON:ASOS), H&M and JD Sports were among companies receiving hundreds of complaints over missing and delayed deliveries.
Royal Mail workers are in the middle of intense strike action that will see walkouts by around 115,000 staff on several days in December following up on earlier action.
In an open letter, Royal Mail, which is owned by International Distributions Services PLC (LSE:IDS), called on the CWU to end the strikes, adding that the task of delivering was “getting more challenging as Christmas nears”.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) responded: “The pay dispute is not complicated.
“Our members are striking for a pay rise that fully addresses the current cost of living.”