Delivery firm Evri sues BBC for £1.2m over Panorama documentary

An undated handout photo from Evri of one of its liveried vehicles at a distribution centre. Photograph: Evri/PA View image in fullscreen An undated handout photo from Evri of one of its liveried vehicles at a distribution centre. Photograph: Evri/PA Delivery firm Evri sues BBC for £1.2m over Panorama documentary Company seeks redress for contracts it says it has lost as a result of programme’s claims about its business practices The parcel delivery company Evri is suing the BBC for £1.2m over a documentary it claims caused it serious financial loss. Evri has filed particulars of claim at the high court which state that it lost prospective clients after the broadcast of the Panorama documentary Evri: Where’s my parcel? Evri, which is private equity-owned, is one of the largest companies in the highly competitive UK market for small parcel delivery. Demand has surged in the last decade as a result of the boom in online shopping . In court documents setting out the company’s claim, barristers for Evri say a segment of the programme wrongly suggests it “deployed exploitative business practices” and misled parliament by falsely stating it did not underpay its couriers. The company said the documentary had caused the loss of prospective contracts worth aabout £1.2m, prompting it to seek special damages for that sum. It is also seeking “general damages” and an injunction preventing the BBC from repeating the claims. In court documents setting out Evri’s claim, Hugh Tomlinson KC said: “The segment meant and was understood to mean that the claimant deployed exploitative business practices designed to reduce pay for its couriers, with the result that they are regularly unlawfully paid less than the national minimum wage; and misled parliament by providing false categorical assurances that couriers were not unlawfully paid below the minimum wage.” The documentary is still available on the BBC’s online iPlayer service, although it has a note, dated 1 July, that says: “This broadcast is the subject of a libel claim by Evri Limited, who says it makes defamatory allegations about it.” The BBC’s description of the programme said Panorama reporters had gone undercover “to investigate the pressures of working in one delivery unit, speaking to unhappy customers as well as couriers who say they struggle to make a living”. “Evri disputes these claims and says it provides a fast, reliable and cost-effective delivery service. It also says its couriers earn more than the national minimum wage.” Apollo Capital Management bought Evri from Advent International, another US private equity firm, for £2.7bn in 2024. It had previously been rebranded from Hermes in 2022, after starting out as part of the German mail order group Otto. It merged last year with the UK e-commerce arm of DHL , another postal company headquartered in Germany. skip past newsletter promotion after newsletter promotion A BBC spokesperson said the broadcaster did not comment on legal proceedings. An Evri