Waitrose to recruit 1,850 extra drivers and pickers

Waitrose is to recruit nearly 1,850 extra drivers and pickers to work in its online grocery delivery service.

The supermarket will be offerng both temporary and permanent roles for picking and delivering online orders in Waitrose shops and also within two online fulfilment centres in Enfield and Coulsdon. The positions will cover both home delivery and grocery click & collect services.

Waitrose has more than trebled the number of online delivery slots for customers to around 190,000 per week since the start of this year. It has also recruited 1,800 additional delivery drivers.

Waitrose director of online Laura Burbedge said: “This year our online shopping operation has more than trebled, and we know that the demand for our Waitrose.com service will continue throughout the festive season. Our customers are planning ahead and adding Christmas items to their online baskets, with seasonal products on Waitrose.com up 250% so far in comparison to last year and turkey orders up by 280%. These additional Waitrose.com drivers and pickers will allow us to better support our customers over the Christmas period with their online grocery orders.”

The supermarket also operates its Waitrose Rapid service where customers in areas of London and Hove can purchase up to 25 products for delivery within two hours. In addition, it has also recently announced that it will be expanding its trial with Deliveroo to 25 more shops.