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

Evri, a major UK parcel delivery company, is pursuing a £1.2 million lawsuit against the BBC over a Panorama documentary. The company claims the broadcast, "Evri: Where’s my parcel?", caused serious financial harm by suggesting it engaged in exploitative business practices and misled parliament regarding courier wages.

Filed at the high court, Evri's legal documents assert that a segment of the documentary falsely implied the company deliberately reduced courier pay, leading to unlawful underpayment below the national minimum wage. Evri argues this portrayal resulted in the loss of prospective contracts valued at approximately £1.2 million. The company is seeking special damages for this amount, alongside general damages and an injunction to prevent the BBC from rebroadcasting the allegedly defamatory claims.

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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, still available on BBC iPlayer, includes a note stating it is subject to a libel claim by Evri. The BBC had described the program as an investigation into the pressures faced by delivery workers, featuring unhappy customers and couriers struggling to earn a living. Evri, owned by Apollo Capital Management since a £2.7 billion acquisition in 2024, disputes these claims, asserting it offers fast, reliable, and cost-effective services and that its couriers earn above the national minimum wage. The company was previously known as Hermes before rebranding in 2022.

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Evri can confirm it has issued a claim for defamation in respect of a Panorama broadcast published by the British Broadcasting Corporation on BBC One and online on 15 December 2025. As this case is ongoing, we will not comment further.