Unique one hour delivery service wins Britain’s most coveted commercial prize.
The UK’s favourite parcel delivery company DPD has won the Queen’s Award for Enterprise 2015 in the Innovation category, for its unique one hour delivery service, Predict.
The award – the most coveted in British commerce – recognises not only the quality of the innovation itself, but also the enormous contribution Predict has made in the transformation of the company and the dramatic growth achieved in the last five years.
Described as the biggest innovation in the express parcels market this century, Predict has firmly established DPD as the carrier of choice for premium brands in the home delivery sector.
Launched in 2010, Predict remains the only free service in the UK to give parcel recipients advanced notification of their exact one hour delivery slot by SMS or email, so that they don’t have to wait in all day for their parcel. The service includes a full range of ‘in-flight’ options allowing the customer to divert their parcel at any time to a specified neighbour or arrange the delivery for another day if they can’t be at home.
Predict has been directly responsible for over £178m of new business wins making the company the fastest growing major delivery firm in the UK, and helping DPD leapfrog traditional home delivery players such as Yodel and City Link, by growing both profitability and turnover year on year.
Thanks to Predict, DPD has been able to embark on an unprecedented investment and expansion programme creating over 2,000 new jobs in the UK in the last two years. In September, DPD will open a new £100m parcel hub at Hinckley in the East Midlands, which will be the largest of its kind in Europe, creating another 1,000 permanent full-time jobs.
DPD’s CEO Dwain McDonald commented: “This is a tremendous day for DPD and fantastic recognition for all the hard work, from so many people, that went into developing Predict. Our strategy all along has been based on investing in technology, people and service to create the best delivery experience possible for our customers. That passion for innovation and our obsession with customer service really come together around Predict.
“I’m incredibly proud of what we have been able to do in the last five years in terms of UK jobs, wealth creation and growth. Creating over 1,000 new jobs a year off the back of a recession and a prolonged economic downturn is a hell of an achievement, and we aren’t done yet! 2015 is set to be our biggest year so far, with the opening of our 4th sorting hub which will give us capacity to grow our business even further.
“No other delivery company has come close to matching our levels of growth, profitability or investment in recent years and we remain the only UK carrier to truly transform its business model to cater for the internet shopping revolution. As a result, retailers can clearly recognise that DPD’s innovations give them a genuine competitive edge and the opportunity to add real value for their customers in the delivery phase.
“The benefits from Predict have been huge – from helping retailers drive repeat sales from happy customers to massive efficiency and cost savings from dramatically fewer failed deliveries. To deliver an equal number of parcels we can now run significantly fewer vehicles and drive a lot less miles, which in turn reduces our cost per stop and our CO2 emissions.”
Predict was developed in the UK by DPD’s own IT department and operations team in close association with local depot managers. It uses a bespoke route optimisation system which is fully integrated with the driver’s handheld device. That same device also enables the driver and the customer to communicate in real-time about the delivery.