Customers’ dismay after courier dubbed “one of the best” quits over pay

Sunnyside was left without its popular delivery guy after Wayne Newton resigned due to “pay cuts” and other conditions.

Employer Evri said he had turned down additional delivery opportunities.

But Wayne (36) said: “They were doing a lot of pay cuts. Ninety percent of my parcels fell into ‘packet rates’ for which I was being paid 51p/parcel.

“If I did 100 parcels a day, I would get £51, minus the cost of the fuel, probably £7 to 8.

“Other firms, however, pay £2 a parcel. It’s just ridiculous.

“They offered us £5 for fuel which, with the current fuel prices, is just not enough.”

Wayne, of Rawmarsh, said he had loved the job and the flexibility that came with it and he enjoyed working for the community.

“The job is great,” he said.

“It’s really flexible, I could deliver whenever I wanted.

“The area I covered was absolutely brilliant.

“They really are good.

“The best part of the job was the interaction with the customers.

“At Christmas, I would dress up as Grinch, Santa, Snowman and Reindeer. I spent £150-200 on costumes.”

Wayne’s decision to quit moved the neighbourhood and those who knew him.

Kay Swetnam (50), of Sunnyside, said Wayne had been her courier for two or three years and he was loved in the area as “nothing was too much trouble for him”.

Ms Swetnam said: “He is one of the best couriers, he is such a lovely lad.

“Wayne would come back in his own time with a parcel and put it in the designated area.

“Other couriers would just leave the parcels in different gardens and rubbish bins – Wayne would never do that.

“Losing him will be devastating.”

A spokesperson at Evri told the Advertiser: “We are sorry that Mr Newton has chosen to terminate his contract with us and wish him all the best in the future.

“As one of our self-employed plus couriers, he has benefitted from a guaranteed hourly rate in excess of national living wage paid holidays, pension and GMB Union Representation.

“The rates he has quoted are for small packets only.

“In recognition of the rising fuel prices, from March this year, he has also received an additional fuel supplement to his rate which already factors in normal fuel costs — and this extra fully covers the price surge that has resulted from the war in Ukraine.

“The area his round covers is small — just 0.7 sq miles  — and he usually delivers for a maximum of two hours a day.

“Mr Newton has chosen to turn down additional round opportunities.

“On average, our couriers’ earnings are in excess of £15.50 an hour and we have a number of really great couriers in the area who have already stepped forward to take on this round so service will be unaffected.”