The week that was: 6 November
Blowing a huge sigh of relief… Here at Post&Parcel we are dancing on the rooftops after an agreement was struck between the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and Royal Mail management, which will see no further strike action happen until at least next year. We are of course jubilant for the everyday consumer and business owner as their mail flow returns to normality, but also for our very own news pages that had begun to resemble the script of Groundhog Day. Hopefully next week Post&Parcel will be awash with more positive news for the industry in the run up to the festive season.
The third wave of national strike action in the UK was due to start today (6 November) and to continue on Monday 9 November. The interim deal will allow a period of calm whilst the Union and Royal Mail bosses head back to the negotiating table in an attempt to find a longer-term resolution. In the meantime we can all feel rest assured that our Christmas cards will be delivered without problem (Ed. – jinxed it).
Mark Higson, managing director of Royal Mail Letters, seemed ecstatic: “I’m delighted for our customers and our people that we’ve got back to a sensible agreement with the CWU that will allow us to deliver a great Christmas while getting on with vital talks about the long term future of Royal Mail – and allows us to drive forward with the essential modernisation of Royal Mail in the new year.
Heading over the English Channel and into Europe, Deutsche Post DHL saw a Q3 revenue drop of 18.6% to 11.2bn euros as the recession continues to hamper the mail and express industries. Frank Appel, CEO, remained upbeat and spoke of the positives. He said: “With our cost management bearing fruit we are able to mostly offset the negative effects of the crisis. Although we see initial positive signals with the stabilisation of transport volumes, there’s still no indication of a full-scale economic recovery. Therefore we can’t ease up; we must accelerate our efforts.” In the Netherlands, TNT also released its Q3 results – announcing a drop in Group profit by 10% year-on-year for its third quarter compared to the same period for 2008.
Also making the headlines worldwide this week was Norway Post, which has shut down the Danish division of its Bring Citymail arm. Norway Post revealed that it had failed to make the company profitable during three years of operations from Copenhagen.
And finally…
The Daily Telegraph reports this week that Adam Crozier, chief executive of Royal Mail, is the second highest public sector boss in the UK, taking home almost £1m-a-year.
In that case, I ask kindly, if he could lend me a tenner?
