Parcel company Evri has said a sharp increase in people buying secondhand goods online handed it a “record year” for deliveries, as profit more than doubled.

Evri delivered more than 730 million parcels in the year ending February 29, a one-sixth increase on the previous 12 months, and a new record for the company.

Chief executive Martijn de Lange said more people were turning to online marketplaces and, in particular, “pre-loved fashion” platforms.

He said shoppers saw both as “affordable and sustainable” choices and that they had “reshaped shopping habits”.

Mr de Lange added that Evri was “well placed to take advantage of new consumer trends, such as these”.

The parcel company spent £32 million on improving its customer service offering, which had helped boost the number of deliveries.

It also announced over the summer that it would hire 8,000 more couriers, plus 1,000 warehouse staff, bringing its courier workforce to 28,000 people.

Moreover, it was forecast to nearly double spending on improving its operations in the current financial year, ending February 2025, as part of a push to make it a “billion-parcel-a-year business” within five years.

The changes helped deliver £119 million in profit for the financial year, more than double the £51 million in the previous 12 months.

Evri was bought by New York-based investment giant Apollo Global Management for £2.7 billion in July, from previous owner Advent International, a private equity firm.

Apollo Partner Alex van Hoek said: “Evri has an innovative model, great technology and purpose-built infrastructure for reliable, lower-emissions delivery in the fast growing e-commerce market.”

The sale came as competitor Royal Mail’s parent company, International Distribution Services, was being taken private by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, in a deal which is still under review by the Government on national security grounds.

As well as online marketplaces such as Etsy and Vinted, Evri is used by several large retailers including Marks & Spencer and John Lewis.

It said it had struck “strategic partnership” deals with Amazon Prime, the Post Office and Tesco Clubcard in the last year.