The week that was: 2 July 2010
A purge at TNT, Korea Post looks to bolster its financial offerings, and UK Mail joins European network… The weekend is almost upon us, and that means it’s time for ‘the week that was’. If you have any big industry news you would like to share with the sector, email us at: [email protected] or [email protected].
This week, TNT announced that it will press ahead with a job cutting programme that could see thousands positions being lost. The company has recently struggled with the world recession, the rise in e-substitution, and liberalisation of the European mail markets. TNT could reportedly cull 6,500 to11,000 full-time jobs, and currently employs around 160,000 staff. It said it will aid departing employees in finding new positions outside of TNT. Speaking at a news conference on Monday, Harry Koorstra, managing director of TNT’s mail division said: “We hope that around 50% of the cuts can be made through natural attrition, but there could be forced redundancies and unions knew this.” Earlier this year, TNT announced that it plans to separate its mail and express businesses. This comes in the same week as Swiss Post announced cuts too – will there be more to follow?
Jetting over to Asia now and Korea Post has said it will expand financial services to mid- and low-income customers. This forms a part of an effort to support the underprivileged and maintain its status as profit-seeking public firm, according to The Korea Herald. The newspaper said that “Namgung Min, president of Korea Post, told reporters on Wednesday that the agency will begin fund sales and issue credit cards soon after consulting with related ministries and financial regulators. Korea Post needs to get licenses to operate both financial businesses as a card issuer and fund sales agents.” The agency currently under the Ministry of Knowledge Economy will take risks in asset management to keep its interest rate high for low-income customers, the CEO said. Korea Post has been making stable investments mostly to national or public bonds and some to companies and local securities market,” Namgung was quoted as saying.
Back to Europe, and UK Mail has joined the European distribution network Eurodis, as a shareholder, in a strategic new agreement designed to extend service offerings to brand new markets overseas.UK Mail will exclusively provide collection and delivery services for the UK and Ireland and the linehaul that connects it to the Eurodis network. The Eurodis consortium consists of key shareholders including Sernam in France, trans-o-flex Logistics Group in Germany and Benelux, Redur in Spain and Portugal, as well as Österreichische Post AG who further strengthen the network with its parcel and logistics subsidiaries, mainly in South Eastern Europe – all working together as one network. All the shareholders come together as a network of organisations who are recognised operators in their own domestic markets.UK Mail’s CEO and now vice chairman of the Eurodis Supervisory Board, Guy Buswell said: “In times of globalisation, no logistics company will be able to fulfill customers’ requirements without being connected to a powerful international network.”
And finally…
Remember to check www.postandparcel.info throughout the week for all the big industry news stories, and also why not follow us on Twitter? We are ‘@Post_and_Parcel’, where we will stream live breaking news straight through to you. Lucky things!
