A week after Royal Mail Group announced a major investment and the creation of 1,000 jobs in its parcels business, competitor business DPD, part of French postal group La Poste, has gone 500 better with the announcement of up to 1,500 full-time posts in the East Midlands.

DPD is to spend £175m over the next five years building a new UK delivery hub in the East Midlands, and will also create new depots and upgrade IT facilities. Royal Mail’s four-year programme was said last week to have a total value of £75m.

Around a third of the new jobs should be filled next year, largely made up of roles for drivers, warehouse and administrative staff.

DPD chief executive Dwain McDonald notes that the rise in online shopping is in a large part responsible for creating the demand for new delivery services.

• For more on the transport and logistics industry, see the Sector Focus on p14 of the new edition of Recruiter, out next week.