The multi-million pound contract was procured via the new Crown Commercial Service postal services framework.
Royal Mail will deliver the kits for the Department of Health & Social Care seven days a week.
Paragon CC has set up a fulfilment service via six sites across the UK, to “provide an agile and responsive supply chain”.
Dave Reynolds, chief operating officer for Transactional & Service Divisions at Paragon CC, said it was “a great achievement and fantastic news for our business”, as well as being a great example of “cross-business and cross-team collaboration”.
“We are extremely proud to play such an important role in supporting the Government’s battle against the Coronavirus pandemic,” he said.
The Paragon sites involved are in Sunderland, Dagenham, Bristol, Belfast, Glasgow and Birmingham.
After a member of the public requests a home testing kit via the NHS, Paragon will receive the information and add a unique barcode to each kit before it is sent out.
Royal Mail will deliver the kits seven days a week, and has set up a network of 35,000 ‘priority postboxes’ for the return of the resulting samples. It is also collecting completed samples from homes and the circa 115 Regional Testing Centres, in a mammoth logistical operation with next-day turnaround.
Paragon CC chief executive Jeremy Walters told Printweek: “We are delighted to be supporting Royal Mail on this programme and being able to use our unique geographic spread to ensure we can deliver what will be an extremely crucial and time-critical fulfilment.
“We can deliver on the initial requirement now, and can increase capacity as that becomes necessary,” he added.
Royal Mail has been involved in the delivery and collection of test kits for care homes and testing centres since April.
The group’s chief commercial officer Nick Landon commented: “Now, the government has asked us to play an equally important role in home deliveries for customers who request a test kit through the NHS. We could not be prouder to support the government’s fight against the pandemic. All of our posties know that when the country asks, we deliver.”
Paragon CC is part of Paragon Group, which is number one in Printweek's Top 500 and breached the €1bn (£903m) turnover mark this year.
