140 new jobs at courier firm APC

Courier company APC Overnight delivered an employment boost for the area today as it revealed it will create 140 permanent jobs at its headquarters in Cannock over the next three months.

The roles will include warehouse staff and forklift truck drivers to work at the company's national sortation centre.

It comes a year after APC Overnight moved into its new £15m national sorting centre and head office at Kingswood Lakeside Business Park.

That saw it double in size, recruiting another 200 staff. Since then, the company has seen non-stop growth. and is now investing in even more staff and new equipment ahead of another expected surge in workload this Christmas.

APC's head of human resources, Emma Scott-Evans, said: "At the moment the business is seeing month on month growth of 20 per cent. Traditionally Christmas is our busiest period, and last year was our busiest Christmas ever, but we haven't seen volumes dropping off. They have remained high and this year we are expecting another big festive season."

She said the company, originally set up to handle business-to-business deliveries, was benefiting from the boom in online shopping.

"A lot of independent online retailers are using us, with our higher speed delivery and fragile parcels services doing particularly well. Thursday used to be our busiest night of the week, but now it is Monday because of the online shopping."

The Cannock centre is handling an average of 100,000 items every night, rising to 120,000 on Mondays. In the run-up to Christmas this is expected to rise to 150,000 a night.

Emma Scott-Evans said the move to Cannock, from APC's previous base in Essington, had increased its capacity by 50 per cent but the firm now needed to invest in more staff and more equipment to handle further growth.

The company currently employs 430 staff, mostly working overnight. Since the move to the new base turnover has risen by more than 17 per cent to £88 million. Its success in recent years saw the company win the Express & Star Business of the Year award in both 2012 and 2013.

Brett Kidson, human resources manager at APC Overnight, who first joined the company in 2001 as a warehouse operative, added: "All of the positions we are currently recruiting for are permanent. We're looking for people that are interested in working with a growing company and staying with us for the long-term. As well as a basic salary we also run a performance related bonus scheme, so there are plenty of opportunities for people who want to work hard."

Further information about vacancies and how to apply can be found at www.apc-overnight.com/career-opportunities. Or request an application form by calling the recruitment line on 01922 702 544.