Alan Leighton says derided Consignia name will be changed
The head of Britain’s beleaguered postal operator said Sunday that the company planned to drop its unpopular name _ Consignia.
Chairman Alan Leighton told the British Broadcasting Corp. that the name, adopted last year by the former Post Office, would likely be changed within two years.
Leighton told the BBC’s “Breakfast with Frost” program that the change was “a piece of re-branding which just happens to be synonymous with the business underperforming.”
He said the company would probably revert to an established and recognized name such as Post Office or Royal Mail.
Consignia, a government-owned public company responsible for mail deliveries and post offices, says it is losing more than 1.5 million pounds (dlrs 2.2 million) a day. It has blamed everything from low stamp prices and the popularity of mobile phone text messaging to past governments raiding its profits.
Critics also have cited years of chronic under-investment, poor productivity and big pay increase demands by workers.
Consignia has said it plans to cut 15,000 jobs over three years and has warned that thousands more layoffs might be necessary to turn its fortunes around.
Leighton told the BBC that no one was safe.
“I had 50 top managers together about a week ago and said to them that … I expect some change and the probability is a third of them wouldn’t be around in a year’s time and that’s going to be a fact,” he said.
