UK vs France – Who has the best courier companies?

We’ve decided to compare courier companies from different countries. We’ve compared companies based on various factors such as speed, reliability, coverage, customer service, and of course pricing!

Each country has several reputable courier companies so it is challenging to class one as superior without specific criteria but below is an overview of the top contenders in each country and we have given the Trustpilot scores which are correct as of February 2024.

Firstly, let’s begin with the more familiar courier companies in the UK;

Royal Mail:
One of the oldest and most established delivery and postal services in the UK. The Royal Mail became a public service in July 1635 when it was introduced by King Charles the 1^st. Post was originally paid for by the recipient and not the sender which is the opposite of what it is like nowadays! Royal Mail offers various delivery services including domestic and international shipping. They cover over 30 million houses across the UK and delivery six days a week. On average, the hardworking people at Royal Mail make sure they deliver over 1.5 billion packages a year! Royal Mail reviews can be found on this link here – https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.royalmail.com but they unfortunately score just 2.9 stars out of 5 stars there.

DPD:
DPD originally was known as Courier Express in the UK when it was first introduced in 1970. After it became Parceline in 1984 after a change of ownership. This is where it gets tricky with a definitive answer of who has the better courier companies between the UK and France because in the year 2000, French company La Poste bought Parceline before changing it’s name to DPD in 2008. DPD has become one of the most reputable delivery services in the UK – mainly due to the heavy investment from La Poste. DPD’s innovative tracking system is praised for very accurate time slots to keep customers updated. DPD successfully deliver in excess of 260 million parcels every year! Although not the cheapest option of delivery in the UK, they have a superb service. DPD have had over 1.5 million reviews on trustpilot and have 4.5 stars out of 5 – https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.dpd.co.uk

Evri:
Evri, formerly known as Hermes was established in 1974 and rebranded in the UK in March 2022. This is a very popular choice when it comes to sending parcels as Evri offers a great alternative to other UK companies as they have a very affordable service and is convenient due to the large amount of parcel drop-off locations. This is not just a popular choice for the general public, well known e-commerce businesses use their services to deliver all across the UK. Evri is an extremely busy courier company in the UK so being one ofthe largest services, this can sometimes mean that there is more issues that arise but overall, the company has a very high success rate in deliveries. During 2022, when Royal Mail were on strike in the run up towards Christmas, Evri stepped up their game and their couriers worked hard to deliver an increased volume of parcels so although under a larger amount of pressure, the company continued to deliver. This hardworking mentality has the Evri team delivering in excess of 700 million parcels a year! – The Trustpilot score is currently 4.2 out of 5 stars with over 4 million reviews and you can check this link for feedback – https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.evri.com

Now on for the French companies;

La Poste:
La Poste has been operating since 1576 and is one of the oldest Postal Services in the world. It is the National Postal Provider in France but also has an extensive network abroad as well because, as mentioned earlier, La Poste owns DPD which operates in multiple countries. Unfortunately La Poste reviews seem to be quite low and average out at 1.3 stars out of 5 stars on Trustpilot but they do deliver around 2 billion parcels a year! For more opinions, click this link – https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.laposte.fr

Chronopost:
Chronopost is a delivery company founded in 1985 which specialises in express parcel services within France but they do have links to deliver internationally as well. It has built it’s reputation for being reliable and doing speedy deliveries as they are known for making sure urgent deliveries arrive at their destinations. On average, they deliver over 180 million parcels every year! Chronopost have more positive reviews than La Poste and average out at 3.7 stars out of 5 on Trustpilot – https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.chronopost.fr

Colissimo:
Another company owned by La Poste but are dedicated to delivering parcels. This subsidiary of the French Postal Service was founded in 1989. They offer home delivery and pickup points and can be used to send parcels domestically and abroad. Colissimo is a carbon-neutral company that ships over 14 million parcels worldwide. They are not rated highly on Trustpilot but in like most industries, companies do not always hear when things go right! They average out 1.1 stars out of 5 on Trustpilot – check their reviews here – https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.colissimo.fr

Overall, if we compare these companies, it is hard to pick a company that is an outright winner of which company has a better courier service. La Poste are top on sheer volume of parcels delivered, DPD are on top with their customer satisfaction as their reviews on trustpilot are above all the other companies, Evri are top for being cheapest but also have a huge 4.2 rating on Trustpilot with three times as many reviews as DPD, Royal Mail for delivering the most parcels in the UK, and Chronopost lead the French courier companies with the highest reviews on Trustpilot.

You can use the links below to book your parcels

No matter what company you use, you can use everyparcel.co.uk to track your parcel!