Britain’s Currys to avoid using Royal Mail ‘for now’ over strikes

LONDON (Reuters) – British electricals retailer Currys will not use Royal Mail as a delivery provider “for now” to reduce any impact from strike action, the company’s chief executive officer Alex Baldock said on Sunday.

Speaking to the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show, Baldock confirmed a report by the Telegraph newspaper that his company would not use the post and parcel company as a temporary measure.

Asked whether the report was true, Baldock said: “For now, yes. Obviously our first responsibility is to the four in five UK households who want to get hold of their technology, particularly at this time of year,” he said.

“There’s no great drama operationally for us. We plan for this sort of thing all the time and the relatively few, smaller parcels that we distribute through Royal Mail are pretty easily switchable to another provider.”

Postal workers have already staged walk outs and plan another wave of strikes later this month over pay and conditions, arguing that they want a rise that matches increasing prices and the cost of living.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)