Royal Mail to deliver on Europe
Royal Mail will not be rushing to move into fully competitive European postal markets in 2009, even if protesting member states do drop their opposition to full liberalisation by that date (Christine Buckley writes).
Allan Leighton, the group’s chairman, may keep expansion plans shelved, or at least limited. Being “world class” is not the same as being “world active”, he said as the company retreated from a planned expansion overseas.
However, the UK operator will be glad at the future prospect of a level playing field across Europe. Britain itself has had a fully competitive postal market since the start of this year.
Despite being modest about its international aspirations, it is likely that Royal Mail will try some move in the European market once it opens. The British group already has a parcels division, GLS, which operates across Europe, after being founded in Germany.
It will not want to be left at the sidelines if the postal market develops, as some believe that it will, into one dominated by five or six players.
However, with several member states expected to try to hang on to their protected markets, no radical changes may be delievered in Europe’s postal markets until some while after 2009.
