Delivery firm Evri sues BBC for £1.2m over Panorama documentary | Couriers/delivery industry

Parcel delivery company Evri is suing the BBC for £1.2 million over a documentary it claims has caused serious financial loss.

Evri submitted the details of her claim to the high court, stating that she lost potential customers after the broadcast of the Panorama documentary Evri: Where is my package?

Privately owned Evri is one of the largest companies in the highly competitive UK market for small parcel delivery. Demand has increased as a result of the boom in online shopping over the last decade.

In court documents setting out the company’s claim, Evri’s lawyers say part of the scheme falsely suggested it “engaged in exploitative business practices” and misled parliament by saying it did not underpay its couriers.

The company said the documentary resulted in the loss of prospective contracts worth approximately £1.2 million and led to a claim for private compensation for that sum. It is also seeking “general damages” and an injunction preventing the BBC from repeating the allegations.

In court papers setting out Evri’s claim, Hugh Tomlinson KC said: “This section meant, and was understood to mean, that the claimant employed exploitative business practices designed to reduce the wages of his couriers and, as a result, that they were regularly unlawfully paid less than the national minimum wage and that he misled parliament by giving 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, but it has a note dated 1 July that reads: “This broadcast has been the subject of a claim of libel by Evri Limited, who say it has made defamatory allegations about it.”

The BBC’s statement about the program stated that Panorama reporters went undercover “to investigate the pressures of working in a distribution unit, to speak to unhappy customers and couriers who say they are struggling to make ends meet”.

“Evri disputes these claims and says it offers a fast, reliable and cost-effective delivery service. It also says its couriers earn more than the national minimum wage.”

Apollo Capital Management acquired Evri from Advent International, another US private equity firm, for £2.7 billion in 2024. Evri was previously rebranded from Hermes in 2022 after starting out as part of German mail-order group Otto. Last year it merged with the UK e-commerce arm of DHL, another postal company headquartered in Germany.

A BBC spokesman said the broadcaster did not comment on legal proceedings.

A spokesman for Evri said: “Evri can confirm that he has made a defamation claim in relation to the Panorama broadcast by the British Broadcasting Corporation on BBC One and online on 15 December 2025. We will not be commenting further as this case is ongoing.”