First class war for Business Post's Guy Buswell
Tucked away in one of Guy Buswell's depots are 12 pillar boxes. Standard Royal Mail design but painted blue. For Buswell is a private postman and the pillar boxes may one day be part of his expansion plans. For the moment, however, they confirm the conclusion of last week's report from former Ofcom regulator Richard Hooper that the private consumer has seen no benefit from introducing competition to postal services.
Buswell is chief executive of Business Post, which collects letters from the likes of Vodafone and HSBC, sorts them and hands them to the Royal Mail for delivery. His UK Mail subsidiary handles more than 10 per cent of Britain's post but, as yet, the public cannot give him letters for posting.
On the wall of his office, on an industrial estate outside Birmingham, above one of his 57 depots, is the very first envelope he delivered. It was from Powergen, posted on May 10 2004, and commemorates the end of the 370-year postal monopoly.
UK Mail now delivers more than 2bn letters a year. "Last week we carried 12m items in one day," boasts Buswell, 46. It is arguably Britain's biggest private mail service (the argument would come from TNT, the Dutch post office) and this week he will announce plans to change the quoted Business Post name to UK Mail Group.
Just 50 big customers account for 40 per cent of Britain's post and Buswell has signed up a fair share, including Abbey, Prudential, Carphone Warehouse, Lloyds TSB and Royal Bank of Scotland. Yet sending letters is a shrinking business.
He blames Royal Mail, whose universal service last week posted its first loss in the year to March – a GBP 100m shortfall.
"We can collect mail from any customer that has 200 items per night. In the future there will be pillar boxes – or collection points," he says. For now, however, he is working on I-mail, which will allow anyone to e-mail a letter to UK Mail for hand delivery next day.
Why not e-mail it directly to the recipient? Buswell points out that legal addresses are not electronic addresses. I-mail will be launched this summer and the consummate salesman explains: "It massively reduces the carbon footprint and reduces time. It will cost between 40p and 50p and be a next-day service."
But its importance, he states, "is that it will be innovation in the mail industry by a competitor."
Buswell denies cherry-picking the Royal Mail's best business but he has a love-hate relationship with Royal Mail chairman Allan Leighton and his chief executive, Adam Crozier. He is their competitor when winning collection contracts and a customer when asking them to deliver.
Thus it is Leighton's postman the dog barks at when the mail is delivered to Buswell's Leicestershire home. The Business Post boss rises at 6am each day and runs. "That's not copying Allan Leighton," he volunteers. "He runs about four miles and I do three – and not every day. I'm a fair-weather runner."
There is constant tension with Royal Mail. Buswell thinks the 13p he pays it to deliver his post should be cut now second deliveries have been cancelled. Leighton wants it increased. But Buswell claims: "I never see Allan Leighton and while I do see Adam Crozier we do not have a great deal to say. He's in charge of a business that's clearly in trouble.
"Royal Mail now is like Business Post three years ago, though on a massively different scale. Now we're leaner and meaner."
Would Buswell like to run his nationalised rival? "Yes," he admits without hesitation. "If I finish this job, why not? I love the mail industry. It's a bigger train set with the same issues I've had here. Why not?"
