Evri suing BBC for £1.2 million over documentary

Delivery firm Evri is suing the BBC for around £1.2 million in damages over a Panorama documentary it claims caused “serious financial loss”, according to High Court documents.

Evri is taking libel action over a 15-minute segment of a 29-minute documentary titled Evri: Where’s My Parcel?, which aired on December 15 last year.

In court documents seen by the Press Association setting out the company’s claim, barristers for Evri said the segment wrongly suggests it “deployed exploitative business practices” and misled Parliament by falsely stating it did not underpay couriers.

Evri denies the claims in the segment, with its lawyers stating it caused the loss of prospective contracts worth around £1.1 million, as well as other sums, leading it to seek “special damages” of around £1.2 million.

The company is also seeking “general damages” and an injunction preventing the BBC from repeating the claims.

The BBC, which is yet to file a defence to the legal action, has said it does not comment on ongoing legal proceedings.

In court documents setting out Evri’s claim, Hugh Tomlinson KC said Evri delivers around 900 million parcels a year, but that the “seriousness of the allegations” made in the segment had caused harm to its reputation and financial loss.

He added the segment caused Evri to lose “prospective contracts, which would have generated profits, presently estimated at £1,164,434 pre-tax”.

He said: “In each case, either the prospective client has referred to the broadcast as the reason why it did not wish to contract with the claimant, or it is to be inferred from all of the circumstances that the reason that the contract was not pursued was due to publication of the segment.”

Mr Tomlinson added Evri’s management spent an estimated £32,843 on explaining to customers and clients why the allegations in the segment were false, and giving evidence to a House of Commons committee “as a direct consequence” of the broadcast.

The documentary remains available online, with a description stating Panorama “goes 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.”

A hearing into the claim is yet to take place.

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