Waitrose has announced that it will be recruiting nearly 1,850 additional drivers and pickers for its online delivery service.

The combination of temporary and permanent roles will help meet a “surge in customer demand” for the Waitrose.com service, picking and delivering online orders in Waitrose shops and also at two online fulfilment centres in Enfield and Coulsdon in London.

The positions will cover both the home delivery and grocery Click and Collect services offered by the company, and will be filled throughout November and December to prepare for the busiest time of the year.

Since the start of the year, Waitrose.com says it has more than trebled the number of online slots to around 190,000 per week and recruited 1,800 additional delivery drivers who have been working in the network of shops and customer fulfilment centres, which together deliver to 90 per cent of UK postcodes.

Waitrose director of online Laura Burbedge said: “This year our online shopping operation has more than trebled, and we know that demand will continue throughout the festive season.

"Our customers are already planning ahead and adding Christmas items to their online baskets, with seasonal products on Waitrose.com up 250 per cent so far in comparison to last year and turkey orders up 280 per cent.”

The Waitrose Rapid service is also on offer - with 7,000 delivery slots per week - letting customers in London and Hove, Sussex purchase up to 25 products for delivery within two hours. Waitrose has also recently announced it will be expanding its trial with Deliveroo to 25 more shops, reaching 3.1 million households across the UK.

It also has 269 stores that offer the grocery Click and Collect service, with 57 of these offering drive-through collections.

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