Delivery giant, Evri, is to hire 9,000 new UK staff.

It is looking to employ 8,000 more couriers, and around 1,000 warehouse and other supporting staff, as reported by Sky.

The move follows its £2.7bn takeover last week by private equity firm Apollo.

The company said the extra staff will take its workforce of self-employed delivery drivers to around 28,000, helping it deliver up to four million parcels daily. Couriers for Evri typically earn around £16.50 per hour.

The company, which currently delivers around 720 million parcels a year and serves 12 million customers a week, said it has invested millions of pounds in improvements and that 99% of deliveries are now on time.

Evri's major clients include John Lewis and Marks & Spencer, as well as online platforms Vinted and Etsy.