[Graham]

There is a tremendous variation in the efficiency of the various carriers depending on the location and the state of the local depot/drivers. DPD are good in my locality, DHL not so. Evri have a truly terrible reputation and are abysmal locally but some areas perform perfectly OK. Royal Mail are excellent here but their service has really taken a hammering with the recent strikes and parcels are getting lost nationwide.

It really is pot luck at the moment Graham so you pays your money and takes your choice. Have you tried FedEx?

I certainly think you have a point in regards to locality, both Proxy events last year we had issues with DHL deliveries in the South West and in East England but quite reasonable elsewhere. And makem's comment about DPD in Sunderland makes me nervous about using them in the North East.  So perhaps a mixed courier approach to use the best depending on area might be a good solution.

I have tried to find a domestic "door to door" service for FedEx without success, all the links I found are for essentially business or overseas. So if there is one they are keeping a low profile about the service.

In general in terms of reviews at the moment we have:
DHL cheapest - Which gives them 64% Customer satisfaction, Trust Pilot 1.4 Star Rating
DPD +£5 per shipment- Which gives them 79% Customer satisfaction, Trust Pilot 4.5 Star Rating
UPS +£8.31 per shipment- Which gives them 70% Customer satisfaction, Trust Pilot 2.6 Star Rating
ParcelForce + £4.46 per shipment- Which gives them 70% Customer satisfaction, Trust Pilot 3.4 Star Rating
Royal Mail + £1.06 per shipment - Which gives them 86% Customer satisfaction, Trust Pilot 3.4 Star Rating
FedEx (not sure if they do next day, door to door ?) Which gives them 74% Customer satisfaction, Trust Pilot 1.3 Star Rating

So at the moment DPD, ParcelForce or Royal mail looks quite good "Nationally speaking" according to the Reviews, but I worry about the Royal Mail handling of large parcels as I am not sure they have an adequate level of experience in the "large parcel" delivery service side, although their small parcel Post Office service is exceptionally good.