‘Record year’ for Evri deliveries amid growth of ‘pre-loved fashion’ platforms

Parcel company Evri has said a sharp increase in people buying secondhand goods online handed it a “record year” for deliveries, as profit more than doubled.

Evri delivered more than 730 million parcels in the year ending February 29, a one-sixth increase on the previous 12 months, and a new record for the company.

Chief executive Martijn de Lange said more people were turning to online marketplaces and, in particular, “pre-loved fashion” platforms.

He said shoppers saw both as “affordable and sustainable” choices and that they had “reshaped shopping habits”.

Moreover, it was forecast to nearly double spending on improving its operations in the current financial year, ending February 2025, as part of a push to make it a “billion-parcel-a-year business” within five years.

The changes helped deliver £119 million in profit for the financial year, more than double the £51 million in the previous 12 months.

As well as online marketplaces such as Etsy and Vinted, Evri is used by several large retailers including Marks & Spencer and John Lewis.

It said it had struck “strategic partnership” deals with Amazon Prime, the Post Office and Tesco Clubcard in the last year.