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Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Polish logistics giant InPost has continued its international expansion by launching the installation of its parcel-delivery lockers at branches of the British Post Office.

On Monday, the firm announced that its first two such lockers, in the village of Stanley, Derbyshire, and Lanesfield in Wolverhampton, have now opened. Hundreds more will follow in the coming month, under an agreement reached last month with the Post Office.

“By combining InPost’s innovative locker technology with the Post Office’s trusted community network, we’re bringing together two national infrastructures to make parcel delivery simpler, smarter and more accessible for everyone,” said the Polish firm.

“This means even greater convenience and accessibility for millions of Britons, who will be able to send and receive parcels at their convenience – even after post offices close,” added InPost’s founder, Rafał Brzozek.

The Post Office’s CEO, Neil Brocklehurst, said that they had decided to “take our first steps in the locker market with InPost” due to the Polish firm’s “innovative solutions to enable customers to pick up or send their parcels in a way that is convenient for them and fits in with their daily lives”.

The arrangement will begin with a six-month trial period, after which the Post Office will evaluate its impact, “in particular the benefits it has brought to our postmasters and their branches”, added Brocklehurst.

 

InPost pioneered the use of such lockers in Poland, where they are known as paczkomaty (a term InPost has fought a legal battle to stop other firms from using). They allow those delivering or receiving packages to drop them off and pick them up at over 25,000 locations around the country.

The company subsequently expanded its network of lockers to other European countries. It announced last month that it now has 12,000 of the machines in the UK and 9,000 in France (through its subsidiary Mondial Relay).

It also has an extensive network in Spain, as well as operations in Italy, Portugal, Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.

Earlier this year, InPost continued its UK expansion by buying a 95.5% stake in the parent company of Yodel, one of Britain’s largest delivery firms.

InPost delivered 93.2 million parcels in the UK in 2024, more than double the previous year’s volume. It estimates that the Yodel deal could lift its annual parcel volumes in the UK to around 300 million and its market share to 8%, making it the the third-largest independent logistics business serving online retailers in Britain.

Britain’s network of post offices is run separately from the country’s postal service, Royal Mail. The Post Office is not obliged to exclusively work with Royal Mail, which launched its own network of parcel lockers earlier this year.


Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: InPost (press materials)

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