More than 200 jobs have been announced for the Bolton area as a parcel delivery service starts a huge recruitment drive.

Evri has announced plans to recruit for 242 courier roles within the borough.

This comes as the company is looking for 8,000 new staff members nationwide with the business' total self-employed courier workforce set to reach 28,000 as it delivers around four million parcels during its busiest days.

The number of parcels being delivered is now higher than during the pandemic years when lockdowns and the shift to remote working caused home deliveries to boom, Evri said.

Online shopping opportunities at high street retailers as well as fast-growing new businesses and second-hand platforms has sparked this.

More recently, it has invested millions of pounds in customer service improvements and says 99 per cent of its deliveries are made on time.

Martijn De Lange, Chief Executive, Evri, said: “We know that service, reliability and quality are critical factors for our clients and consumers. We have an industry-leading 99 per ceny on-time delivery rate and our couriers have received more than three million 5-star reviews on Trustpilot and customers using our own app rate their courier 4.7 out of 5 on average.

“New client wins, and increased parcel volumes are proof of the trust customers have in our service and biggest-ever recruitment drive promises to deliver another record year.”

Evri say it has invested significantly in customer service, including launching a new chatbot and callback feature to deliver a response in 24 hours or less, tripling the number of people who get an answer.

Couriers can apply easily by attending an introductory call with the local Community Delivery Manager, and then begin training.

Today, couriers typically earn around £16.50 per hour and have the flexibility of delivering parcels any time between 8am and 8pm.

Couriers will often be delivering in their local area, within familiar surroundings and usually not too far from home to accommodate their other commitments.

The parcel delivery company says it has enhance its courier package and has partnered with Onsi to give all self-employed couriers, both new and existing, access to new benefits including digital GP, mental health support, discounts at supermarkets and on fuel.

This is in addition to their existing benefits schemes and is free of charge.

To find out more and join Evri, visit: www.beacourier.co.uk