Inside huge Royal Mail distribution hub the size of 6 football pitches
‘The biggest Scalextric set in the game!’ Inside huge Royal Mail distribution hub the size of SIX football pitches where 4.2million Christmas letters and parcels are posted on busiest day of the year
- EXCLUSIVE
- Royal Mail shipped 4.2million letters and parcels in 24 hours on its busiest day of 2018 at hub in Slough
- Worldwide Distribution Centre near Heathrow employs thousands of people to sort huge amount of mail
- 2018 is said to have been the most popular year in the hub’s 15 year history to send letters and gifts
- Staff have discovered everything in the post on the site, from dangerous snakes to hand grenades
These astonishing photographs show how Royal Mail shipped 4.2million letters and parcels in 24 hours on its busiest day of the year yesterday – from just one distribution centre.
The giant Worldwide Distribution Centre based near London Heathrow Airport in Slough, Berkshire, employs thousands of people to tackle an avalanche of mail every Christmas.
It is said to have been the most popular year in the hub’s 15 year history to send letters and gifts – with customers overseas demanding British products.
The astonishing operation at the Worldwide Distribution Centre based near London Heathrow Airport in Slough, Berkshire
Royal Mail shipped 4.2million letters and parcels in 24 hours on their busiest day of the year at the Slough centre yesterday
The giant Worldwide Distribution Centre employs thousands of people to tackle an avalanche of mail every Christmas
Staff have discovered everything in the post on the site in Slough, from dangerous snakes to hand grenades
It is said to have been the most popular year in the Slough hub’s 15 year history to send letters and gifts
The hub – one of 38 in the UK – uses seven miles of conveyer belts to process seemingly endless cards, packages and gifts
The hub measures up at an extraordinary 548,959 sq ft (51,000 sq metres), the same size as half a dozen football pitches
Staff sort through the post, with yesterday being the final day for mail to reach Europe before Christmas Day
Staff have discovered everything in the post on the site, from dangerous snakes to hand grenades. The hub – one of 38 in the UK – uses seven miles of conveyer belts to process seemingly endless cards, packages and gifts.
At 548,959 sq ft (51,000 sq metres), the same size as half a dozen football pitches, the international hub sends parcels across the globe – with yesterday being the final day for mail to reach Europe before Christmas Day.
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Plant manager Dan Tovey, 47, joined Royal Mail as a temporary worker 25 years ago. He called the centre ‘the biggest Scalextric set in the game – the size of six football pitches’.
He said: ‘We plan for this day for 11 months. As soon as Christmas finishes it’s on to planning the next year. Today is our peak day – we usually have 1,500 people, but we have 2,000 from mid November to January 7.
The Worldwide Distribution Centre hub based near London Heathrow Airport sends parcels across the globe
E-commerce has led to a boom in Britain sending international mail – with this year the busiest on record
A return to sending traditional letters is said to have seen the amount of Christmas cards sent increase exponentially
One of the Royal Mail workers at the Worldwide Distribution Centre helps sort some of the 4.2million items yesterday
The hub runs 24 hours, seven days a week ‘to get things to our customers on time’, according to the plant manager
Border Force agents take up part of the massive building, while dozens of staff pour over x-ray images of packages and letters
Security is tight, with barriers, locked entrances to reception and staff hired to challenge anyone seen without an ID badge
Royal Mail workers sorted through about two million parcels yesterday, whereas a normal day sees about half that number
‘We go for about two million parcels today, whereas a normal day sees half of that.’
The manager said that e-commerce has led to a boom in Britain sending international mail – with this year the busiest on record.
Mr Tovey said that a return to sending traditional letters has seen the amount of Christmas cards sent increase exponentially. He said: ‘The plant runs 24 hours, seven days a week to get things to our customers on time.
‘We’re the most automated plant for Royal Mail in the UK – 80 per cent of our parcels are done in this way. During this time of year we increase our staff numbers to meet the traffic volumes.
‘When parcels come through they are photographed and that is sent onto out Plymouth team. It then goes into ‘the air’ where it goes to dispatch and through shoots, into bags and onto vehicles for the aircraft.’
The plant is said to be the most automated for Royal Mail in the UK – with 80 per cent of its parcels done in this way
The plant uses a number of state of the art robots, the kind used in car factories, to handle moving heavy pallets of mail
The plant has a voice coding system to sort the mail coming through – passing through a sorting machine called ‘The Beast’
One staff worker said they have had ‘quite a few grenades found, it seems to be a regular item – they weren’t live though’
The team have ‘responded fantastically and we are confident we will deliver all mail on time’, the plant manager said
Using a voice coding system, one 64-year-old packer has set the record for 11,700 packages in a day – by himself
Staff from Royal Mail work yesterday on what is the busiest day of the year for the Worldwide Distribution Centre in Slough
Security at the site is tight, with barriers, locked entrances to reception and staff hired to challenge anyone seen without an ID badge.
Border Force agents take up part of the massive building, while dozens of staff pour over x-ray images of packages and letters.
Bob Lawrence, 54, communications manager, said: ‘Our staff have a five year history check, there is such an incredible amount of stuff coming through here.
‘We use a voice coding system to sort out all the mail coming through – they pass through the sorting machine we call ‘The Beast’.
The centre has ‘had all sorts coming through here, from knives to jars of crickets – both have fallen out and gone everywhere’
When parcels come through they are photographed – and that is sent onto the Royal Mail’s team in Plymouth
Royal Mail are able to process 26,000 packages an hour at the hub – and hope to be able to sort 40,000 an hour next year
The Slough plant manager called the centre ‘the biggest Scalextric set in the game – the size of six football pitches’
Yesterday was the centre’s peak day – they usually have 1,500 people, but have 2,000 from mid November to January 7
During this time of year the Worldwide Distribution Centre increases its staff numbers to meet the higher traffic volumes
The staff have ‘a five year history check’ because there is ‘such an incredible amount of stuff coming through here’
One time staff at the centre found a package with a frozen rattle snake, which woke up during processing and started rattling
For export mail, everything comes through the Worldwide Distribution Centre near Heathrow Airport as a centralised hub
‘Alongside two other machines, we’re able to process 26,000 packages an hour – we hope to be able to sort 40,000 an hour next year.
‘We’ve had all sorts coming through here, from knives to jars of crickets – both have fallen out and gone everywhere.
‘One time somebody had frozen a rattle snake – it woke up during processing and started rattling – we had to call the RSPCA. We’ve had quite a few grenades found, it seems to be a regular item – they weren’t live though.’
The plant uses a number of state of the art robots, the kind used in car factories, to handle moving heavy pallets of mail.
The Heathrow Worldwide Distribution Centre is where all the internationally bound letters and parcels are processed
Millions of items were handled by the workers and machines at the centre near London Heathrow Airport yesterday
Customers overseas are demanding British products, making this year the most popular in the hub’s 15-year history
Royal Mail shipped 4.2million letters and parcels in 24 hours on their busiest day of the year yesterday
Mail bags are seen being transported through the hub, where dozens of staff pour over x-ray images of packages and letters
The Worldwide Distribution Centre in the Berkshire town is able to process 26,000 packages an hour
Thousands of people are employed at the centre in Slough to tackle millions of pieces of mail every Christmas
The photographs were taken yesterday on what was the final day for mail to reach Europe before Christmas Day
Seven miles of conveyer belts are used to process the cards, packages and gifts which are being sent abroad
The Royal Mail’s centre near Heathrow Airport gets through two million parcels on its busiest day of the year
Engineer Kestutis Jonaitis has been at the hub for 15 years – where he has witnessed increasing modernisation.
The 48-year-old said: ‘We are all worried about the robots taking our jobs eventually – but at least you don’t get a bad back from working.’
Using a voice coding system, packer Ronnie Leslie, 64, has set the record for 11,700 packages in a day – by himself.
He said: ‘Some are able to do eight to nine thousand in a day, but I have the record. I love what I do, Christmas is always something I look forward to.’
Mr Tovey added: ‘For export mail, everything comes through this as a centralised hub. This place has been here since 2003, this is definitely the busiest year we’ve had.
‘The team have responded fantastically and we are confident we will deliver all mail on time for our customers. It’s a great company to move up in, we deliver dreams.’
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