Independent parcel delivery giant Yodel is expanding its Northern Ireland operation by opening 56 new store locations.
That will bring its out of home (OOH) network in the region to 273.
The move is part of plans to strengthen its delivery offering across the north and comes off the back of Yodel’s partnership with PayPoint, enabling it to join forces with Spar Northern Ireland, owned by Henderson Group.
As part of this expansion plan in the north, Yodel has also broadened its locker offering, having opened more than 50 lockers since May 2023.
Northern Ireland is seen as a key market for Yodel’s OOH services, with some store regularly handling up to 1,000 parcels a week.
Indeed Donard View service station in Ballynahinch, which handles over 1,500 items a quarter, was recently awarded Yodel’s store of the quarter award for outstanding customer support and service to the local community, beating over 7,500 other stores in Yodel’s nationwide network.
Indeed nine of the top 10 busiest UK stores in Yodel’s ranking were all based in Northern Ireland, indicative of demand in the region.
Since the start of 2024, Yodel’s OOH store network across the UK has increased by 25%.
The firm’s chief commercial officer Sam Holden said: “We’re excited to embark on this partnership with Henderson Group to build on our network in Northern Ireland.
“As customers increasingly look for greater choice in parcel delivery options and seek out more sustainable solutions, we’ve seen steadily increasing demand for out of home collections.
“Northern Ireland has already proven to be one of the busiest regions for OOH across the UK and with this expansion into more stores we can continue to meet demand and remain flexible to changing trends in the retail sector.”
Liverpool-headquartered Yodel, which has a raft of major clients including Argos, Very.com, Vinted and Wren Kitchens, posted revenues of £562 million in the last financial year.
