Author: Archive

Postal department to unveil franchising plans

Posted by | Dec 16, 2006 | |

To cut losses and increase its reach, the Department of Posts has recently unveiled plans for franchising postal services. For this, the Department will soon launch a pilot project in 100 cities across India. The franchises will be tested for financial viability, i.e., whether they can be self-supporting if not profit-generating, without affecting the Department’s existing network. Ten of the cities earmarked for the project are in Gujarat, said Chief Postmaster General of Gujarat Circle Vijayalaxmi Sheth. ‘‘We have identified ten spots for franchises and will be inviting applications for the same shortly,’’ she said.

‘‘Parties who apply for a franchise will be required to have passed Class XII. Postal pensioners who own a computer and have a premise in place would be given preference. There are also some mandatory requirements like a character certificate, a bank guarantee of Rs 10,000 and a ready business plan. Those who meet the specified requirements will then be imparted training before the open their postal franchise outlet,’’ she said.

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Poste Italiane to end 2006 in the Red

Posted by | Dec 15, 2006 | |

Italian state-owned postal services company Poste Italiane expects to book a profit in 2006, ending for a fourth year in a row in the red.
The information was released by Italian national audit office Corte dei Conti. Poste Italaine closed 2005 with a net profit of 248.5 mln euro (USD326.9 mln). The net worth of the company was at 352.7 mln euro (USD463.9 mln) at end-2004.
The net financial debt of Poste Italiane stood at 3.333 bln euro (USD4.384 bln) at the end of 2005 compared to 3.265 bln euro (USD4.295 bln) at the end of 2004. The net financial position/net financial debt is calculated as the difference between a company’s financial debts and liquid assets.
[Editor’s note: Poste Italiane closed the first half of 2006 with a net profit of 379 mln euro (USD498.5 mln), surging by 72.6 pct compared to the 220 mln euro (USD289.4 mln) registered for the respective period of 2005, ANSA said on October 6, 2006. Operating profit of the company went up by 43.6 pct year-on-year to 811 mln euro (USD1.067 bln), while revenue stood at 8.8 bln euro (USD11.6 bln), of which 4.9 bln euro (USD6.445 bln) generated by traditional activities.

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Cerberus-Led Bidder Group Becomes New Owner of BAWAG P.S.K. – Invitation extended to Austrian Post to acquire a stake in the bank

Posted by | Dec 15, 2006 | |

Austrian post welcomes quick decision to more intensively use the 1,334 post branches and 535 post partner offices to safeguard the interests of Austrian customers
Austrian Post welcomes the quick decision on the part of the Austrian Trade Union Federation to sell BAWAG P.S.K. to the bidder group led by Cerberus, which also consists of Generali and Wüstenrot. Cerberus has expressed its interest to further develop BAWAG P.S.K., and to pro-actively exploit the advantages provided by Austrian Post’s distribution network.

The new owner has made a clear commitment to dynamically expand the financial services business and positioning of BAWAG P.S.K. as a “universal bank for private customers and medium-sized businesses“ with attractive products and services. Another designated aim is to attract new customers and expand the financial institution’s market share by means of more pro-active, aggressive marketing activities carried out in cooperation with Austrian Post.

Austrian Post currently offers financial services products of BAWAG P.S.K. via its own branch network, for which Austrian Post derived an income amounting to EUR 96m in the year 2005. Austrian Post is pursuing the goal of further expanding the financial services offered at its 1,334 company owned branches and 535 post partner offices in Austria.

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Internet shopping hits GBP3bn in November

Posted by | Dec 15, 2006 | |

UK internet retail sales reached GBP3 billion in a month for the first time in November, as Britain’s 25 million online shoppers reaffirm their affinity with online Christmas shopping.
IMRG estimates that GBP3,260,000,000 was spent online during the month, at an average rate of GBP4.57 million per hour, approximately 45% (44.7%) more than in the same period last year.

November’s internet sales were more than half a billion pounds higher than those of the previous month, when the IMRG Index recorded a value of GBP2,729 million for October. This increase was ten times the average monthly increase of GBP50 million recorded during the first ten months of 2006.

During the same 10-month period two years ago, in 2004, the average growth rate was just GBP16 million per month.

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An Post seeking 15% rise in standard stamp price to 55c

Posted by | Dec 15, 2006 | |

The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) has today launched a public consultation following An Post’s recent application for an interim price increase in the price of the basic stamp. ComReg is the National Regulatory Authority for the postal sector in Ireland and its prior approval is required for postal rate changes in the reserved area.

If approved, prices for domestic standard letters (up to 50g) would increase to 55c; however, prices for mail in the 50-100g category (for example, a typical large letter) would decrease from 60c to 55c. In addition, business customers using An Post’s Ceadúnas (Permit) services or meter franking machines would also receive a discount of 1c per item. The effective date of any interim price increase, if approved, would be 1st March 2007.

An Post outlines in its application that it has, or will, absorb significant cost increases during the period from August 2003 to May 2007 (including wage increases of 18.9% under National Wage Agreements) and that it will have to meet further cost increases over the next 12 months including wages, energy and fuel costs; hence, its requirement for a price increase.

Overall, and on the basis of An Post’s application, it is estimated that the weighted price increase proposed for all ‘letter’ products is 9.6% based on the prices concurred with in August 2003. This compares with a movement in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) of 10.3% over the 42 months ending November 2006.

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2,500 post offices to be axed in the UK from next summer

Posted by | Dec 15, 2006 | |

The government yesterday unveiled plans to close 2,500 rural and urban post offices over 18 months – the fastest closure programme in the history of the network.
The cuts, which are expected to start next summer after national and local consultations, will slash the network to about 11,700 branches, fewer than half the peak of 25,000 in the 1960s. The trade and industry secretary, Alistair Darling, said a GBP1.7bn support package would be provided to fund rationalisation and maintain the GBP150m-a-year payments to the rural network at least until 2011.
He told the Commons that the post office network was losing GBP4m a week and had 4 million fewer customers than two years ago. The “big problem,” he said, was that “people are simply not using post offices as they once did … There is widespread recognition that the current size of the network is unsustainable.”

Royal Mail said it welcomed the proposals and would study their impact on its wider funding needs, which include new investment in the letters business, funding for the pension fund deficit and offering shares to employees.

Mr Darling outlined a series of criteria which the new network would have to meet: 99% of the population must be within three miles of an office and 90% within one mile. In deprived urban areas 99% of the population must be within one mile while in remote areas at least 95% should be within six miles.

The slimmed-down network will be supported by some 500 new outlets, including pubs, churches and village halls and even mobile offices.

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ANC deliver the HR Director of the Year 2006

Posted by | Dec 14, 2006 | |

Wendy Dean, HR Director for the express parcel carrier ANC, was awarded the Personnel Today ‘HR Director of the Year’. The awards took place at the Grovesnor Hotel in London and hosted over 1200 human resources professionals from the UK. These awards, judged by the HR industry, received more entries this year than ever before, making the win even more significant. The win comes as a result of her work to integrate the mission statement ‘Delivering Peace of Mind’ into the company culture, which has been a huge success and embraced by employees at all levels. ANC were also delighted to be nominated as a finalist for the ‘HR Strategy in line with Business’ award but narrowly missed out to The AA Group.

Angela O’Connor Executive Director of HR for the National Policing Improvement Agency, last year’s winner of the HR Director award judged this year’s competition, she said “Wendy is clearly at the heart of the business and has been given responsibility for a number of wide ranging areas. She has a clear understanding of how to bring value back into the business through a range of interventions that can easily demonstrate benefits to the bottom line”. Wendy said “I am totally overwhelmed by the award and it is a true reflection of the support and encouragement I have had from the board at ANC. I am also delighted for my team who nominated me for the award, and without their help this simply would not have been possible.” Wendy has been employed with ANC for over 16 years and is responsible for over 1,800 employees. During the past three years alone Wendy and her team have reduced absenteeism and employee turnover significantly. Wendy has also started a driver training division and begun developing the ANC Training Academy for all employees.

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ANC wins national award in road safety

Posted by | Dec 14, 2006 | |

ANC continues its winning streak with an exceptional achievement at the Brake Road Safety Charity Awards for Excellence 2006. Driver Training Manager, Mark Shaw, left with an armful of awards, including ‘Long Standing Commitment to Road Safety’. This award in particular was a huge achievement for Mark who has worked in the industry for nearly 30 years. Accepting his award he said “it is a real honor to receive this award, judged by safety professionals and my peers. It shows that our procedures and training courses demonstrate high standards and are effective in the campaign for road safety and greater awareness”.

Other awards include high commendations for:

– Road Risk Manager of the Year,
– Company Driver Safety, and
– Safety in the Community.

The Fleet Safety Forum Awards for Excellence aim to promote best practice among companies of any size operating vehicles of any type. The awards reward professionals who have worked significantly to improve the safety of vehicle operations, and by promoting award winners to the industry.

ANC’s success in the four categories can be put down to the prevalence of a Driver Safety Culture which incorporates, pre-employment assessments, on the job assessments for all employees who drive as part of their role, a proactive insurance department, improved accident reporting and back to work assessments.

ANC continues to work towards excellence and is now running training courses in LGV driving.

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