A WARRINGTON-based delivery group is leading a national effort to collect and deliver Covid-19 home testing kits.

The Delivery Group’s Carrier Consortium, based in Omega South, is providing more than 10,000 vehicles, 200 facilities and 16,000 employees to get the testing kits into laboratories.

This includes Yodel, Menzies Distribution, DX, Diamond and UPS Healthcare.

The Carrier Consortium is operating seven days per week on a massive scale across England, delivering a strictly controlled cool chain solution which ensures the temperature of the tests remains constant from pick-up to delivery.

James Wilkins, operations and IT director for The Delivery Group said: “Our Consortium members and service suppliers have reacted magnificently and achieved the impossible, creating a new UK service from scratch and against the clock.

“Together, we will continue to improve processes and create an even better consumer experience as we progress through the next phases.”

Mike Hancox, CEO at Yodel, added: “It’s been an honour to work with industry peers on what is a critical task for the country, and we look forward to undertaking the next phase of the programme.

“We have opened up the Yodel network at weekends to further support the collection infrastructure and our staff across the board have delivered a truly excellent service.”

The test collection programme feeds into a study coordinated by Ipsos MORI, in partnership with Imperial College London for The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), to assist in understanding the prevalence of the virus across the country.

Kelly Beaver, managing director for public affairs at Ipsos MORI, said: “The Consortium has been a fantastic partner.

“With a solutions-focused, innovative team at the helm they have ensured delivery of what is a new and incredibly challenging logistics process at scale.”