APCOA and Rontec represent transport and retail industry sites spanning the length and breadth of the UK
Quadient (Euronext Paris: QDT), a leader in helping businesses create meaningful customer connections through digital and physical channels, today announced that it will expand its Parcel Pending by Quadient Open Locker Network in the UK, with two new host partners representing more than 1,000 potential sites for lockers:
- APCOA: UK and Ireland’s leading parking mobility technology & solutions provider working across transportation, health & education, retail and local government sectors.
- Rontec: One of the leading players in the UK forecourt industry, operating 264 roadside retail forecourts under the Esso, BP and Shell brands.
For hosts, lockers open additional revenue streams, both from the lockers themselves, and from increasing footfall to sites without needing to install lockers from multiple, competing carriers or other businesses. In conjunction with other services, lockers can transform a location into a community hub that provides consumers with an essential destination, reducing the distance travelled and journeys taken by both couriers and consumers and contributing to a more sustainable future.
“Hosting carrier-agnostic lockers is another value-added service we can offer to our customers,” said Kim Challis, Regional Managing Director, APCOA UK&I. “We have invested heavily in using technology to help our customers and their communities, from convenient booking and payment systems to installing EV charging points. We are also rolling out ‘urban mobility hubs’ that turn existing parking locations into distribution and logistics centres for greener, more efficient last-mile deliveries. These lockers will help our customers make fewer journeys, reducing their fuel use and costs while helping create a more sustainable environment.”
Gerald Ronson, Chairman of Rontec, said: “We want our forecourts to offer everything our customers might need. Enabling people to pick up parcels while refuelling will cut the number of journeys they need to make. Not only will this make drivers’ lives easier, but it will also help reduce traffic on nearby roads, easing congestion and lowering emissions in our local communities.”
The new partnerships represent a major milestone in Quadient’s goal of rolling out 5,000 open locker locations across the UK. The 24/7 Open Locker Network represents a new era of convenience for users: allowing consumers to pick up, send and return parcels at a time that suits them. Three major carriers – DHL, DPD UK and Evri – have already signed up to use the locker network, with a fourth carrier soon to be announced. The lockers’ in-built label printers mean users can easily send returns or other parcels without needing to have a pre-printed label or access to a printer at home. And their robust, modular and secure construction means lockers can be placed almost anywhere, indoor or outdoor, in any configuration, while giving complete confidence that parcels will not be damaged or stolen.
“These partnerships mark a bold step towards meeting our open locker network expansion goals,” said Ian Caminsky, SVP & MD Parcel Locker Solutions DACHIT-UKI, Quadient. “Our parcel locker solutions provide benefits at all levels: from the hosts who are opening up new revenue streams through fees and increased footfall, and to carriers who can reach more customers more efficiently with fewer stops, to consumers who can send and receive parcels securely at their own convenience, and to local communities that see lower traffic. We are looking forward to helping these hosts realise the full benefits of being part of our open locker network, and continuing to expand our footprint with more carriers and location partners.”