Parcel delivery firm DPD has received a Queen’s Award for innovation in recognition of its one-hour delivery service Predict. The Queen’s Award is now in its 50th year and is widely recognized as one of the most prestigious business awards in the UK.
There were a total of 141 winners of the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise, divided between 24 winners for innovation, 12 for sustainable development and 105 for international trade.
Launched in 2010, Predict is a free service that gives parcel recipients advanced notification of their exact one-hour delivery slot by SMS or email, so they do not have to wait in for their parcel. The service includes a full range of inflight options allowing the customer to divert their parcel at any time to a specified neighbor or arrange the delivery for another day if they cannot be at home.
Dwain McDonald, CEO, DPD, said, “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.
“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 2015 is set to be our biggest year so far, with the opening of our fourth sorting hub which will give us capacity to grow our business even further.
“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.”
April 21, 2015