The parcel delivery company Evri has launched a £1.2m legal action against the BBC over a Panorama documentary it claims cost it lucrative contracts and falsely portrayed its business as exploitative.
Evri filed particulars of claim at the high court stating that it lost prospective clients after the broadcast of “Evri: Where’s my parcel?” – a programme that sent undercover reporters into one of its delivery units. In court documents, barristers for the private equity-owned company said a segment of the documentary “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.”
“Evri sues BBC for £1.2m over Panorama documentary it says caused loss of contracts.”
The company is seeking special damages of about £1.2m for the loss of prospective contracts, plus general damages and an injunction preventing the BBC from repeating the claims. Hugh Tomlinson KC, representing Evri, argued the programme’s allegations were defamatory.
The BBC’s own description of the programme said 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”. The broadcaster added that 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.”
The documentary remains available on iPlayer, but carries a note dated 1 July stating: “This broadcast is the subject of a libel claim by Evri Limited, who says it makes defamatory allegations about it.”
Evri, one of the UK’s largest small-parcel delivery firms, has grown rapidly on the back of the online shopping boom. Originally launched as Hermes, part of the German mail order group Otto, it was rebranded in 2022 and bought by Apollo Capital Management from Advent International for £2.7bn in 2024. Last year it merged with the UK e-commerce arm of DHL, another German postal company.
The lawsuit now puts the BBC on the defensive over a documentary that Evri says crossed the line from investigative journalism into defamation.