The British Post Office becomes Consignia plc
Consignia is the new name for The British Post Office. The change of corporate name take effect today, March 26, 2001, as Consignia is incorporated as a public limited company (plc), registered in the UK and wholly owned by the British Government.
The new name reflects Consignia's place as a major player in the global distribution market. The organisation has already invested £500 million (ECU equivalent) on overseas acquisitions and owns nearly twenty international companies based in Europe and North America, some with links to the Far East.
Consignia's global operation was given a further boost this month when the European Commission gave approval to its proposed cross-border business mail joint venture with TNT Post Group (TPG) and Singapore Post.
Consignia will continue to offer letter and parcel services within the UK as the newly licensed universal service provider in the competitive domestic market established by the UK Government in the 2000 Postal Services Act. These services will continue to be offered under its established consumer brands – Royal Mail, Parcelforce Worldwide and through its retail network of Post Office branches.
But distribution services such as e-commerce fulfilment, billing and customer management as well as logistics and supply chain solutions are increasingly at the forefront of Consignia's customer offer. The new name reflects this widening scope new services to meet the changing needs of customers come on stream.
Consignia is the owner of the Paris-based Crie group, Citipost, a document delivery company operating in Europe, North America and the Pacific Rim and Der Kurier in Germany. It also holds the controlling interest in General Parcel – a fully integrated ground based parcel delivery network operating across Europe.
Most of the organisation's existing services will continue to be offered under their established names and brands. The Consignia name will be seen principally by larger business and international customers in the financial services, telecommunications, home shopping, utilities and advertising and marketing sectors, who together account for nearly a third of the company's annual £7.5 billion turnover.
Commenting on the intoduction of the new name, Jerry Cope, group managing director of strategy and business development for Consignia said:
"The change to a plc is a major opportunity for us. We fully intend to remain the key player in the UK's postal and distribution market. However, our international capacity is growing fast and we want to be able to exploit it fully in the competitive global marketplace.
"Our larger customers want a portfolio of services available on a global basis and if we do not provide them, they will inevitably take their business to rival operators. To be strong internationally, we need a distinctive and easily recognisable identity to support our existing brands. Overseas 'The Post Office' does not differentiate the organisation from other postal administrations – hence the need for change.
"The new name – Consignia – clarifies the role of the holding company, in relation to our strong business and consumer brands such as Royal Mail, or indeed all our overseas brands such as Citipost, and in relation to the UK network of Post Office branches.
"The new name describes the full scope of what The Post Office does in a way that the words 'post' and 'office' cannot. 'To consign' means 'to entrust to the care of' – which is what each of our customers does every day, no matter which of our services they use".
www.consignia.com
