UK Royal Mail reintroduces collection tabs

RETURN OF THE TABS: SIMPLE, CHEAP AND HELPFUL
Postwatch is delighted that Royal Mail has agreed to reintroduce collection tabs to its
postboxes. The tabs will be reinstated during the rest of 2004.
Postwatch began its campaign to have collection tabs reinstated in September 2002. At the
time Kay Dixon, Chairman of Postwatch Greater London, said: “It’s just a little metal tab
inserted into a post box so that customers know whether the last collection has happened.
It’s simple, cheap and helpful.”
To help press the case for the collection tabs to be reintroduced, Postwatch commissioned
independent research. This was published in January 2004. The research showed that
customers could not rely on post boxes being emptied on time every day. Thousands were
emptied before the stated last collection time.
Commenting on Royal Mail’s u-turn Peter Carr, Chairman of Postwatch, said: “This is good
news for customers. We are delighted that our perseverance has paid off. We are very
pleased that our campaign, which was supported by the industry’s regulator Postcomm,
persuaded Royal Mail that collection tabs were necessary.
“Royal Mail deserve recognition for accepting they got it wrong and for taking steps to put
things right.”
-ENDS-
NOTES TO EDITORS:
For more information about Postwatch or to read the research published in January visit
www.postwatch.co.uk .
Numbered Collection Tabs used to indicate which collections during the day had been
undertaken. Postwatch agreed with Royal Mail that customers did not need to know all
collection times. Postwatch, however, wanted last collection times to be displayed and for
‘day’ tabs to be used to show whether last collections had happened.
Royal Mail has over 115,000 post boxes throughout the UK.