Whistl calls last post as home delivery services cease
Dutch owned postal service Whistl has announced its withdrawal of home delivery services in London, Liverpool and Manchester after the loss of funding made its business untenable.
Whistl had been in direct competition with the Royal Mail in these areas, delivering around 3m letters a week, but suspended deliveries last month when Lloyds Bank declined to invest further.
In a statement PostNL, Whistl’s parent, said: “Following the termination of the discussions on the proposed investment in Whistl UK to fund the further rollout of its current end-to-end (E2E) activities, we have assessed alternative scenarios for Whistl's E2E operations.
"Further to this assessment, it has been decided to end Whistl's E2E operations.
"Whistl remains committed to further developing its successful activities in the UK, including downstream access (DSA) service, door-drop media, packets and parcels and logistics."
The decision puts up to 1,800 jobs at risk at the UK’s second largest postal operator although it will continue to collect 80m items per week for delivery by the Royal Mail.