Consignia Chairman promises radical solutions to problems
Postal giant Consignia is reviewing every aspect of its activities _ including its name _ company chairman Alan Leighton said today.
The business was “haemorrhaging” cash, losing up to #1.5 million a day, he warned.
“Clearly it can’t go on as it is. The view at the moment is the right one, which is everything is up for review, and no change clearly in the post office is not now an option,” Mr Leighton told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
“I think we have been too much inwardly focused, there has been too much infighting, and we have to get on and look at really focusing on our customers and competition.
“And therefore we are going to come up with some radical solutions.”
Asked if the company’s name was also up for review, Mr Leighton said: “Everything is up for review.
“You can’t have a business which is losing #1.5 million a day, and which has just had its worst January on record and pretend that everything is fine _ it is not.
“Most of this is an attitude of mind, and therefore what you have got to do is clearly say everything is up for review.”
He added, however: “At the moment we haven’t got any money to do anything, never mind change the name.
“Changing the name isn’t going to change anything, the most important thing to change … is that the business has to be much more focused on customers and competition.”
Mr Leighton continued: “Clearly we have a business that is haemorrhaging. What has been happening over a period of years has not worked.
“We have a combination of things to do here. One is we have a business to run, and the second thing is we have a public service to offer. The USO (universal service obligation) is a very fundamental part of all of that, we have got to do the right for everybody.”
Mr Leighton said the company would be producing a plan for the way forward within the next two to three weeks.
Mr Leighton was speaking after a survey for the Amicus union found that Consignia’s managers felt that the company is heading for trouble under deregulation.
Union general secretary Roger Lyons told the programme: “The 600 senior managers we represent in Consignia believe that the postal service as we know it faces meltdown if the current plan of the regulator is implemented too fast.
“And large majorities are concerned about Consignia’s ability to compete _ 85% believe that the company doesn’t have the right leadership to meet the challenge, and big majorities feel they don’t have the skill mix, the right direction, can’t meet the challenges.
“The reality is that if the regulator goes ahead and privatises the juicy cherry picked morsels from April, then a universal postal service as we know it will be ended.”
PA News
