DPD Ireland has invested €8.1m in parcel facilities and technology in the first 10 months of 2021 amid an unprecedented boom in online shopping caused by COVID-19.
The company has spent €5m to expand capacity in the hub in Athlone and €3m to upgrade IT infrastructure to speed package delivery to customers. Additionally, it also opened a new 15,000 sq ft distribution centre for Cavan and Monaghan in April 2021, to facilitate 1m deliveries around the two counties this year. DPD also opened a new depot in Kilkenny and expanded production at its central hub in Athlone. These facilities will increase DPD’s capacity to handle the “new normal” demand from online retailers according to the company.
“We made this investment in our infrastructure, opening new depots, to ensure we can continue to meet the high levels of demand for our services. We experienced one of the biggest booms in online retailing over the past 18 months, but we also experienced a shift in behaviour. Even with shops re-opening, a reliance on online shopping has been maintained by consumers, and this is going to be our new normal going forward,” said DPD chief executive Des Travers.
He added that the company has also created several new departments including customs, training, security, audit, transformation and telesales, due to the rapid growth, with DPD Ireland achieving its 2025 revenue targets in one year as a result of the pandemic.
Parcel volumes jumped from 17m in 2017 to 36min 2020 and are up to 44m in 2021. Staff numbers at the company grew from 700 in 2017 to 2,200 in 2021 driven by the huge growth in online shopping as lockdown restrictions forced more consumers online.
DPD, which has 37 depots across the country, delivered more than 3m parcels nationwide in the month of October 2021. The company reported revenues of €158m in 2020.
Source: DPD
