Hermes Europe GmbH is a German delivery company headquartered in

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, owned by the retail company

Otto GmbH Otto GmbH & Co KG (doing business as Otto Group, stylized as otto group, formerly Otto Versand) is a German mail order company and one of the world's biggest e-commerce companies. Based in Hamburg, it operates in more than twenty countries. Ott ...

History

The company was founded in 1972 in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

and entered the market in East Germany in 1990. It expanded to France in 1997, the United Kingdom in 2000, Austria in 2007, Italy in 2009 and Russia in 2010. In Germany, Hermes Logistik Gruppe (HLG) is the country's largest post independent provider of deliveries to private customers. In November 2020

Advent International Advent International is a global private equity firm focused on buyouts of companies in Western and Central Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia. The firm focuses on international buyouts, growth and strategic restructuring in five core ...

announced it would partner with the current management team to acquire a 75% stake in Hermes UK.

Otto Group Otto GmbH & Co KG (doing business as Otto Group, stylized as otto group, formerly Otto Versand) is a German mail order company and one of the world's biggest e-commerce companies. Based in Hamburg, it operates in more than twenty countries. Ott ...

will continue to own 25% of the company. Advent will also acquire a 25% stake in Hermes Germany, which includes other Hermes Germany Group companies including BorderGuru and a share in the ParcelLock joint venture. The partnership will not affect Hermes’ activities in Russia and Austria, the holding company Hermes Europe or the companies not involved in parcel delivery, namely Hermes Fulfilment, Hermes Einrichtungs Service, Girard Agediss, Hansecontrol and Otto International. In March 2022 Hermes UK announced it would rebrand as Evri following allegations of poor customer service and parcel mishandling.

Criticism

The company was named as the second worst parcel delivery service in the United Kingdom (after

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) by users of

moneysavingexpert.com MoneySavingExpert.com is a British consumer finance information and discussion website, founded by financial journalist Martin Lewis in February 2003. The website's focus is to provide people with information on saving money in the form of dea ...

in January 2014, with 30% of customers rating their experience as "bad". In September 2016 the government asked

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to consider launching an investigation into Hermes, after workers alleged they received pay equivalent to lower than the current minimum wage in the United Kingdom. During this investigation a whistleblower claimed that Hermes coerced managers into misleading an HMRC investigation. In June 2018 an

employment tribunal Employment tribunals are tribunal public bodies in England and Wales and Scotland which have statutory jurisdiction to hear many kinds of disputes between employers and employees. The most common disputes are concerned with unfair dismissal, red ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

found that a group of 65 couriers, supported by the

GMB union The GMB is a general trade union in the United Kingdom which has more than 460,000 members. Its members work in nearly all industrial sectors, in retail, security, schools, distribution, the utilities, social care, the National Health Service (N ...

through lawyers Leigh Day, were workers entitled to employment rights, including minimum wage and holiday pay, rather than self-employed as Hermes asserted. The GMB stated the ruling was likely to affect 14,500 Hermes couriers. Hermes is considering an appeal. During the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

, Hermes said it would pay its drivers in the United Kingdom who needed to self-isolate only £20 daily, and payment would be made only to those who normally earned less than £90 daily. As a result, almost half its workers would receive nothing while payments to the rest would be capped at £280 per fortnight. In an April 2020 episode of

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's consumer show ''

Joe Lycett's Got Your Back Joe Lycett's Got Your Back is a Channel 4 consumer affairs comedy programme. It is presented by the titular comedian Joe Lycett, with assistance from deadpan comedian Mark Silcox, plus a guest television personality. The programme also contains ...

'', it was shown that Hermes was sending parcels they claimed were undeliverable to an auction house. Host

Joe Lycett Joe Harry Lycett, also known by the self-given moniker Mummy, is an English comedian, painter and television presenter. Known for his sardonically camp style, whimsical public stunts and elaborate set designs, Lycett has been described as one ...

contested the undeliverability of the items, finding many goods auctioned off had legible names, addresses and tracking numbers.

References

External links

* *{{official website, https://www.hermesworld.com Express mail Transport companies established in 1972 Logistics companies of Germany