Royal Mail is looking for thousands of temporary workers to join the team across the UK in the run-up to Christmas.
With the nights drawing in, the air getting chillier by the day, and the festive season now practically within our sights, Royal Mail is gearing up for what is always its “busiest period” of the year by recruiting an army of 16,000 temporary workers all across the country to help its 110,000 already-employed posties sort the mail.
Although hiring for Christmas is , of course, what the postal service mainly has its sights set on, that’s not the only seasonal event it’s looking for extra help with, as many of the new temporary staff will begin work at the end of this month so they can cover Black Friday and Cyber Monday too.
The postal service says the festive season brings with it around double the normal volumes of parcels and stamped letters that need to be processed.
Royal Mail is hiring 16,000 temporary workers across UK in run-up to Christmas / Credit: Royal Mail
On top of this, the company says it’s also expecting an increased number of online shopping parcels to process this year too – which is why it’s hoping to welcome the tens of thousands of new staff on short-term roles before Christmas arrives.
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The temporary positions will be located in 37 mail centres across the UK, with a variety of different roles and shifts available.
A whopping 176,500 sqm of extra temporary space – which is apparently equivalent to 16 football pitches – has been created across five parcel sort centres ready for the season, Royal Mail has confirmed, while the company’s two new automated ‘Super Hubs’, one of which is based here in the North West in Warrington, and the other in Daventry, will also be hiring hundreds of additional staff.
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Up to 600 new temporary staff will join the ‘Super Hub’ teams, as Royal Mail expects two million parcels per day to be processed across both sites.
Contracts for the 16,000 temporary roles run from late October through to early January 2024, with the period for the additional temporary work including Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but will be at its peak in December.
“We are pulling out all the stops to deliver Christmas,” Royal Mail’s Chief Operating Officer, Grant McPherson, said as the seasonal recruitment drive was launched.
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“It’s our busiest time of the year and we know how important it is to deliver on time for our customers, so by planning ahead, hiring more people, vans and trucks, we are well-prepared to handle the increase in festive mail and parcels and deliver the high standards of service our customers expect from Royal Mail.”
Find out more about all the temporary seasonal roles available on the Royal Mail website here.
Featured Image – Royal Mail
News
Extremely rare ‘dancing lemur’ that’s only the size of a tennis ball born at Chester Zoo
Emily Sergeant
An extremely rare ‘dancing lemur’ that weighs 100 grams and is only the size of a tennis ball has been born at Chester Zoo.
Primate conservationists at the UK’s largest charity zoo are celebrating the birth of the critically-endangered Coquerel’s sifaka – also known as a ‘dancing lemur’ – with the tiny baby arriving to parents Beatrice (12) and Elliot (12), and bringing an end to a five-month pregnancy.
The first images released by Chester Zoo show mum Beatrice carefully cradling her new baby, who was born with thick fuzzy white fur, as it clings to her belly.
Chester is the only zoo in the UK, and one of just three in Europe, to care for Coquerel’s sifakas.
Unlike other species of lemur, sifakas stand perfectly upright and use their powerful legs to spring side to side along the forest floor, hence them being affectionately nicknamed the ‘dancing lemur’.
ChDuke Lemur Centre in America to establish a conservation breeding programme across the continent that’s working to prevent the rare primates from becoming extinct.
The unique primates are found in only one place on Earth, the northwestern forests of Madagascar, where its wild population has declined by 80% in the last 30 years due to widespread deforestation, and as a result, the species has sadly been listed as the highest conservation priority there is – critically endangered.
Currently just nine sifaka reside in the whole of Europe, with four now found in Chester.
An extremely rare ‘dancing lemur’ that’s only the size of a tennis ball has been born at Chester Zoo / Credit: Chester Zoo
Chester Zoo has worked with the Duke Lemur Centre over in America to establish a conservation breeding programme across the continent that’s working to prevent the rare primates from becoming completely extinct.
Primate experts at the zoo say the new baby will begin to branch out and explore on its own at around six months old, and it’s at this point they’ll determine whether it’s a male or female.
“Every Coquerel’s sifaka birth is a huge cause for celebration,” commented Dr Nick Davis, who is the Mammals General Manager at Chester Zoo.
“There are very few remaining globally and every addition within the European conservation breeding programme is vital to the work we’re doing to safeguard the future of this species.
“The new baby has spent the first vital few weeks of life quietly bonding with mum, Beatrice, and we’re very happy to report that they’re both doing great so far. We’re seeing positive signs – they’ve been inseparable so far.”
Featured Image – Chester Zoo
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Police continue searches and issue public appeal to find missing Wigan man ‘known to many in the area’
Emily Sergeant
Officers are continuing searches to find missing Wigan man Darren Orme who’s said to be ‘known to many in the area’.
A public appeal for information has now been issued.
According to Greater Manchester Police (GMP), Darren was last seen shortly before 9pm last Wednesday (5 March) at the junction of Woodhouse Lane and Scot Lane Beech Hill Lane in Wigan, and officers have been searching several locations since he was reported missing the following day.
Darren is 54 years old, around 6ft 3in tall, and of slim build with short red/ginger hair.
He was last seen wearing blue jeans, blue trainers, a navy-blue Wigan Athletic jumper, and a three-quarter length blue Wigan Athletic jacket, police explained in their appeal.
Since Darren’s family reported him as missing, a large GMP response has been underway – including specialist search advisors, an underwater search team, and police dogs, alongside officers from Wigan Police Station.
If you have any information on Darren’s whereabouts, or you have any footage which may show Darren since he was reported missing, please call us on 101 quoting log 2423 of 06/03/2025. pic.twitter.com/5UCKtUYlmL
Darren’s family said in their own heartbreaking plea for him to return home that they ‘implore’ anyone who has any information to contact the police immediately and ‘help return Darren to us’.
Their direct appeal to Darren continues: “Darren, you’re not in any trouble. We just want you home. We need you to know that we love you and we’re here for you. Even though it may feel you have the world on your shoulders and you’re under a lot of stress, you’re not alone and the people of Wigan are right behind you.
“We will do anything we can to take this weight from you. We just want you safe, please come home to us.”
Detective Inspector Lee Shaw added: “Specialist officers from across the force are continuing to search for Darren… and we remain hopeful of finding [him] and want to retrace his last known movements.
“The number of people who have shared our appeals and are out looking for Darren shows how loved he is by the local community, and I would like to urge the public in continuing to share our appeals and information which may assist us.
“We know Darren is known to many in the area, and we appreciate all the help from people who have joined the search over the past few days.”
Anyone with any information on Darren’s potential whereabouts, or any footage which may have shown him since he was reported missing, are urged to call police on 101 quoting log 2423 of 06/03/2025.
Emily Sergeant -
24th October 2023 
