Watchdog gives Hays a crack at delivery

Competition in Britain’s postal industry shifted up a gear yesterday
when the industry regulator, Postcomm, signalled its intention to
grant a temporary licence to the logistics and support services
group Hays for the provision of three specialist services. Postcomm said the proposed one-year licence would allow it to assess
the effects of certain enhanced postal services while it develops
its longer term policy for liberalisation of the postal market where
Consignia, formerly the Post Office, enjoys a de facto monopoly on
the delivery of mail weighing less than 350gr and costing less than
pounds 1 to send. Hays, which has built up a successful document exchange business
outside the reserved Post Office area, is seeking to build on its
existing operations by collecting and sorting mail from its
customers enabling them to benefit from discounts previously only
available to large Royal Mail users. The company is also proposing a pre-8am delivery for document
exchange customers, sending letters to businesses within the London,
Manchester and Edinburgh business districts, and an enhanced
service, expected to use track and trace technology, for customers
in the travel, betting and opticians’ industries. At present Hays’ document exchange and Mailine operations handle
around 1.3m items a night, including pounds 10m of travel trade
business each year that Consignia alleges is in breach of existing
industry legislation. It is thought the proposed licence could add a
further 250,000 items a night to the Hays’ businesses. Postcomm is giving interested parties the opportunity to comment
during a one-month consultation period but has made it clear it is
‘minded’ to grant the licence. The regulator said yesterday it did
not believe the terms of the licence would have an appreciable
effect on the provision of a universal postal service in the UK but
would further the interests of postal users by promoting competition
between operators. Consignia, which is seeking damages from Hays for its alleged breach
of the existing monopoly, said it would study the proposed licences
carefully.
Copyright 2001 The Guardian.
Source: World Reporter (Trade Mark) – FT McCarthy.THE GUARDIAN, 17th July 2001