Same day couriers across Berkshire, Hampshire & Surrey24/7, 365 days a year
Rapid Despatch is an independent courier company, established in 2001, working from four branches across Hampshire, Berkshire and Surrey. When a deadline is about to slip, our same-day line is answered by a person, 24 hours a day.
The fastest option isn’t always the right one. What you want is the service that protects the deadline and the goods without spending money you didn’t need to spend.
Tell us what’s moving, where it’s going and when it has to be there. We’ll talk you through the options and quote the one that fits. Book a same-day job and we match your consignment to a vehicle and send it straight from collection to delivery. No parcel hub. No transfer to a second van. One driver, one route, and a controller watching it from booking through to proof of delivery.
Choose same-day when tomorrow would cost you something: a stopped line, a missed appointment, an installation that fails, a legal deadline. Your goods go in a dedicated vehicle on a direct route. We carry everything from envelopes to pallets, as long as we can match the item to a vehicle that can take it safely. Around our four branches we can often be with you inside 30 to 60 minutes.
Learn about same-day deliveryThe economical choice for well-packed goods that can travel through an overnight network. Standard next working day, delivery by noon, delivery by 10.30am, and weekend services on suitable consignments. We’ll check the cut-off, the dimensions and the packaging first. Miss the cut-off and we’ll price a dedicated alternative so you can compare.
Explore next-day optionsInternational shipping is never only about speed. Contents, value, commodity code, reason for export and paperwork all shape the route. We arrange express documents and parcels, European road, air freight, sea freight, imports and urgent on-board courier movements, and we help you get the booking information right the first time.
View international courier servicesFrom Farnborough, Reading and Southampton: storage, pick and pack, e-commerce fulfilment, point-of-sale campaign support, returns processing, kitting, labelling and distribution. It scales to a single campaign, a seasonal peak or an ongoing outsourced operation. Because warehousing and delivery sit in the same business, an urgent order doesn’t wait for the standard carrier collection.
See storage and fulfilment servicesOne pallet, several pallets or a larger load. We build the service around dimensions, weight, loading method, site access and deadline. Dedicated same-day transport when the pallet has to move now. Planned UK and international freight when cost or capacity matters more than immediate collection.
Find out about pallet and freight deliverySome jobs need a plan rather than a booking. We handle urgent on-board international courier work, sensitive documents, exhibition and event movements, high-value and fragile goods, and consignments with particular handling or paperwork behind them. We confirm what we’re carrying before we accept it, then agree the vehicle, handling, handover and evidence.
Discuss a specialist movementOur branches give businesses across Hampshire, Berkshire and Surrey a local operational contact, backed by nationwide and international delivery.
Branch
8 Hassocks Wood Industrial Estate, Stroudley Road, Basingstoke, RG24 8UQ
01256 638148Sitting near the A339 and M3, the team covers Basingstoke and the towns around it, including Overton, Whitchurch, Bramley, Tadley, Odiham and Kingsclere.
Basingstoke servicesBranch
Ferneberga House, Alexandra Road, Farnborough, GU14 6DQ
01252 640064We’ve operated from Farnborough since 2006. Quick access to the A331 and M3, covering Farnborough, Fleet, Farnham, Aldershot, Camberley, Yateley and Sandhurst.
Farnborough servicesBranch
Unit 7, Robert Cort Industrial Estate, Britten Road, Reading, RG2 0AU
0118 987 5979Serving the area since 2003, close to the A33 and the M4 corridor. Reading also runs storage, pick and pack and fulfilment.
Reading servicesBranch
424 Portswood Road, Southampton, SO17 3SD
023 8055 3322Close to the M27 and the routes into the city, covering Southampton, Eastleigh, Romsey, Fareham, Hedge End, Chandler’s Ford and Nursling, plus storage and fulfilment.
Southampton servicesNobody rings a courier because moving a box is interesting. They ring because something else depends on it.
A replacement component is holding up an engineer. Documents have to reach a named person before a deadline that isn’t negotiable. Exhibition material has a narrow venue access window. A retailer needs promotional kits at forty sites on the same date. An online business needs stock stored and orders despatched without building a warehouse operation.
What you’re buying from us isn’t the van. It’s one team that can work out what the job actually needs and then coordinate it. If it’s less urgent, we’ll arrange next-day or a timed morning service through carriers we’ve worked with for years. Going overseas, we’ll help you weigh up air, road and sea, and tell you what customs will want before you book rather than after something is stuck.
Yes. We arrange nationwide collection. How quickly we can be there depends on the postcode, the vehicle and what the roads are doing. Our quickest response is around the four branch areas; elsewhere we use our wider network for both urgent and planned collections.
Every same-day direct delivery does. Next-day, economy international and some freight services use networks and service partners, because consolidation is what makes those services affordable. We tell you which handling model applies before you book, so you can weigh speed against risk and cost.
Yes. We monitor booked movements and provide tracking or status updates suited to the service, plus proof of delivery on completion. If your internal process needs a recipient name, a signature, a photograph or something else, tell us at booking and we’ll agree it up front.
Our urgent same-day phone line runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Email and web forms are handled during staffed periods, so ring us if it can’t wait.
It depends on distance, vehicle size, timing, waiting, access, extra stops and any special handling. For a useful first quote, send exact postcodes, dimensions and weight, the deadline, and anything unusual about loading or delivery. We confirm the price before you book.
Our international team walks you through what the chosen service needs and checks the booking before despatch. You remain responsible for accurate descriptions and values, because that is how customs works. But you won’t be guessing at it alone.
Yes, within the limits of dimensions, weight, vehicle availability and safe loading. Send measurements, weight, pallet type, whether you have a forklift or need a tail lift, and the access at both ends.
Yes. We handle one-off bookings, repeat routes, account work, fulfilment programmes and planned distribution projects. Account customers can set up standing booking details, references, authorised contacts and reporting so future jobs take a minute rather than ten.
Send the collection and delivery postcodes, the item details and the deadline, and we’ll come back with a recommendation. If it’s urgent, pick up the phone instead of waiting on email.
“The fantastic friendly team at Rapid Despatch have helped us out no end. Their customer service is second to none.”
“I have used Rapid Despatch a couple of times now and they have a fast and reliable service for pickups and deliveries.”
“Booked online, received a payment link, made payment and received a tracking link. I was kept up to date at every stage.”
★★★★★ Based on [CONFIRM: total] Google reviews
What really drives a same-day quote, distance, vehicle size and timing, and how to keep it down.
When paying for same-day pays off, and when next-day is the smarter call.
What the new EU low-value import rules mean for businesses shipping into Europe.
One van, one job, driven straight from collection to delivery. When a dedicated run is the right call.
Tell us the basics and a real person replies in minutes. 24/7, 365 days a year.
5.0 on Google
