Evri is planning to hire 9,000 more staff after agreeing to be bought by new owners in a deal worth £2.7 billion - with Scotland as a 'key area'. 

The company said it was embarking on a recruitment drive to grow its team of couriers and in its warehouses.

Scotland has been selected as a crucial area for hiring in a bid to meet demand for deliveries, as well as Bury St Edmunds, Plymouth and Gatwick.

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

This has been sparked by online shopping at high street retailers as well as fast-growing new businesses and second-hand platforms.

Evri, formerly known as Hermes, will see its workforce of self-employed couriers grow to 28,000 after the hiring spree as it prepares to deliver up to four million parcels on busy days.

The company last week revealed it had agreed to be bought by Apollo Global Management.

It means it will move from current owners Advent International, a different private equity firm which bought the business prior to its rebrand.

In past years, Evri was impacted by complaints of slow and missing deliveries, with an MP last year questioning whether it should be investigated over “poor customer service”.

It has more recently invested millions of pounds in customer service improvements and says 99% of its deliveries are made on time.

Martijn De Lange, Evri chief executive, said: “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.”

It expects to hire some 8,000 couriers alongside 1,000 warehouse and other supporting roles this year.

Couriers typically earn around £16.50 per hour, according to Evri.