Trade unions and employees of Belgian postal services company De Post/La Poste are afraid of possible closure of 260 full time jobs, it was reported on August 24, 2005.
Their concerns were raised after the decrease of the working hours, announced by the company in 800 of its 1,300 post offices.
Read MoreGerman private mail delivery company Pin AG plans to push ahead with its expansion in order to gain nationwide presence and become a strong competitor of market leader Deutsche Post, Pin CEO Bernhard Klapproth said. Currently, Pin handles 600,000 mail deliveries daily for large corporate clients and is one of Deutsche Post’s biggest competitors in the segment. By comparison, Deutsche Post handles 70 million letters daily. Pin plans to expand to the cities of Stuttgart and Hamburg. It is already present in Berlin, Leipzig, Cologne and Frankfurt.
Read MoreTHE TUSSLE between Japan Post and Mr Junichiro Koizumi commenced in 1992. In the very first press conference he held as the Minister in-charge, he vowed to cut the Postal Services System (PSS) to size (it was renamed Japan Post in 1992). He stepped up efforts after he took over as Prime Minister in 2001
Having failed to get full parliamentary support for his Bill, he has dissolved Parliament and is seeking public support in an election scheduled on September 11. Why should the reform of postal service raise such political hackles? Japan Post is not an ordinary postal agency. It operates 25,000 post offices nationwide and covers remote, mountainous and thinly populated areas. It has 400,000 employees. In the past, post-masters were leaders of standing in the rural areas and guided public opinion. Many owed their jobs to political bosses and were the bulwarks of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). More than delivery of mail, its role in raising savings and insurance funds has been phenomenal. Aggregate savings deposits with Japan Post amounted to 214 trillion yen ($1.98 trillion) last year. It is the largest financial institution in the world. Its deposits are equal to the combined deposits of four of Japan’s largest banks. It holds 33 per cent of the country’s time deposits and has contributed substantially to Japan Government Bonds (JGB)
Read MoreRoyal Mail is unveiling a major tie-up with Experian to allow the global information giant to check the credit-worthiness of its 420,000- plus business customer accounts. The three-year contract, which includes an option to extend for a further two years, will enable Royal Mail to access Experian’s commercial credit reports online, to check customers before extending credit for a postage account. The credit records of limited and unlimited companies wishing to start new accounts can also be checked. The service extends across the group, including the Post Office and Parcelforce Worldwide. Experian says it has been recognised as Royal Mail’s preferred supplier of business-to-business marketing information.
Read MoreJapan Post said Friday it will improve its package delivery service by allowing people to use cellphone-operated lockers at railway stations to receive parcels, beginning in September. The new service for Yu-Pack parcel delivery costs no additional money and will initially be available at lockers in 55 locations, mainly railway stations and shopping centers in Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture. The service will be offered in collaboration with X-Cube Corp., an operator of coin-operated lockers that use cellphones as keys. Japan Post said it will initially target users of mail-order services and young people who tend to be away from home so that they can easily pick up packages while commuting.
Read MoreOne in five large businesses in Eastern England would consider switching postal provider from Royal Mail when the market is opened to competition in January 2006, a new survey revealed. 200 businesses in the area were interviewed on issues such as security of mail, delivery and collection times and value for money. Only half the companies surveyed were “very satisfied” with the overall postal service they receive. The survey also found nearly threequarters of businesses receiving the most post are dissatisfied with the time it takes for delivery. One-third of businesses using couriers are more satisfied with them than with their postal service.
Read MoreMystery surrounds the departure of DHL’s UK MD John Hogan, who has been replaced by Chris Muntwyler, a Swiss national who was running the Central Europe region. The company, turning over (pounds sterling)1.4bn in the UK, says Hogan has left “to pursue other interests” and declined to elaborate, although a spokesman says he would be surprised if Hogan did not “pop up again” soon in the industry. Industry insiders say that Hogan has fallen on his sword, or been pushed onto it, because profit margins are well below expectation in what is a major market for DHL. It is also suggested that Hogan struggled to adjust to the matrix management philosophy, and the influence of the head office in Germany.
Read MoreThe government’s intention to establish a single, comprehensive national address register, announced in May, has been shelved because the parties involved could not agree a way forward, undermining the country’s e-government strategy and raising a barrier to delivering efficient public and private sector services.
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