Company bosses to meet mail chiefs over 'late post' damage to business
BUSINESS owners in central Edinburgh are to meet postal chiefs over a series of late mail deliveries they claim are hampering their companies.
The Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce has arranged a meeting between representatives of the postal service and its members, many of whom have been receiving mail up to 1.5 hours late for more than a fortnight.
The Royal Mail has confirmed that businesses in EH2 and EH4 – which includes Princes Street and large portions of the New Town – have been receiving mail as late as 11am due to a reorganisation of shifts at an Edinburgh sorting office.
While the Royal Mail guarantees all deliveries by noon, it makes a special commitment to deliver post to “recognised business areas” by 9:30 am.
Businesses say that early delivery time is crucial in maintaining competitiveness in a fast-moving marketplace.
The meeting comes after repeated criticism of Edinburgh’s postal service and in the wake of a report by consumer watchgroup Postwatch that found nearly a tenth of letters to the capital do not arrive on time.
Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce spokesman Graham Bell said: “Mail problems are an ongoing concern. We have received complaints from our members over this most recent delay and have arranged a public meeting with the Royal Mail in which we will address issues around quality and control.
Mr Bell added that the Chamber of Commerce, located in EH4, rarely receives its mail before 9:30am.
The Royal Mail is under increasing pressure after the introduction of private licensed mail carriers to Britain in January, a spokesman said.
As a result, the service has had to restructure some of its shifts in Edinburgh and it is ironing out delays these have caused.
The spokesman said: “Royal Mail has been making some organisational changes to its operations in an effort to become even more efficient so that the company can meet the challenges of the fully competitive postal market.
“Over the past two weeks in Edinburgh, those changes may have resulted in some mail being delivered later than was previously the case to a small number of business customers.
“Royal Mail apologises to any of its customers who have been affected by this and we’d assure them that swift action is being taken to sort out this short-term problem and to ensure they will receive the same delivery times as they had previously.”
Tricia Dow, director of Postwatch Scotland, said if the Royal Mail does not resolve the delays in Edinburgh, businesses will be likely to look at using one of the new, private mail companies.
There are now 15 licensed deliverers in the UK, with two more applications for licensing pending.
She said: “I have spoken to the Royal Mail on this issue and they have assured me delivery should be back to normal soon. If it isn’t, the key thing is businesses will be looking to the competition to see if they can get a better service”.
Amanda Harvie, chief executive of Scottish Financial Enterprise, lobby group for the financial service industry, said Edinburgh’s businesses were likely to suffer if the mail delay is not resolved.
She said: “Many financial transactions are undertaken electronically, however postal deliveries are very important as there are still documents that have to be sent in hard copy.
“We want to ensure that prompt delivery resumes as soon as possible”.
