Author: Archive

Royal Mail hands top role to Alex Smith (UK)

Posted by | Mar 11, 2008 | |

Royal Mail has promoted Group Strategy Director, Alex Smith, to the role of Strategy and Commercial Director.

Royal Mail’s UK Marketing Director, Alex Batchelor, who was ranked 28th in Marketing’s 2007 Power 100, and sales director, Mark Thomson, will now report directly to Smith. Royal Mail claims the pair’s roles are unaffected by his appointment.

Smith will now oversee Royal Mail’s review of both its above- and below-the-line ad accounts, which are currently held by Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO and Proximity respectively.

A Royal Mail board member, Smith joined as Group Strategy Director in 2004. Before this, he worked as a consultant for McKinsey & Company for 17 years.

Batchelor, a former Unilever and Orange marketer, joined Royal Mail in 2005.

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New postal service to help housing organisations go green

Posted by | Mar 11, 2008 | |

The social housing sector could save up to 58% on mail delivery costs and significantly reduce its carbon footprint with a brand new Postal Services deal launched by Procurement for Housing (PfH).

PfH’s market research showed that housing organisations send an average of 194 letters per day, each spending in the region of GBP 40,856 per year on the stationery, printing, collecting, processing and postal costs all involved in sending mail. As a whole the sector spends over GBP 139 million per year on mailings.

Research indicated that there was little awareness in the sector of the true total cost of sending mail via ‘traditional’ routes and there was a lack of understanding about other mail options now available through advancements in technology and process.

PfH’s Postal Services Agreement will help housing organisations reduce their environmental impact by decreasing their transport requirements. This is done through electronic mail, a service which uses email to transmit documents for the greatest part of their journey before they are printed, folded, enveloped, addressed and sorted at the supplier’s plant, ready for final delivery.

This electronic mail service eliminates the hidden costs associated with mail production, printers, toner, stationery and franking – providing an alternative to traditional postal collections. Housing providers reduce their postal costs and increase their control over spend on mail. Staff can concentrate on their core activities rather than collating mailings.

Housing organisations using the Postal Services Agreement can make up to 58% savings on the true cost of sending one letter by using PfH’s electronic mail service.

Significant savings are also available on traditional mailings, with PfH’s prices 40% less than normal franked 1st class deliveries and 13% less than normal franked 2nd class deliveries.

Three suppliers have been appointed to the Agreement – Inkfish in partnership with hybrid mail specialist DeskDirect Global, Royal Mail and TNT Post. Royal Mail and TNT offer traditional mail services such as local and national collections, mail sorting options and secure deliveries through the Agreement.

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ForestEthics Launches 'Do Not Mail' Campaign to Stop Junk Mail

Posted by | Mar 11, 2008 | |

Five years after the national Do Not Call Registry became the most popular consumer rights bill in history, conservation group ForestEthics launched its campaign for a Do Not Mail Registry today to give Americans the choice to stop wasteful, annoying and environmentally destructive junk mail that also fosters identity theft.

ForestEthics is urging Americans to sign a petition at http://www.donotmail.org/ demanding a national registry that will finally offer citizens control over the unsolicited coupons, credit cards, catalogs and advertisements that fill their mailboxes on a daily basis.

“The Do Not Call Registry of 2003 addressed a nuisance — telemarketers’ calls at dinnertime,” said Todd Paglia, Executive Director of ForestEthics. “Do Not Mail also addresses a nuisance, but junk mail has the added consequence of serious environmental effects that must be confronted if we are to stop climate change and reckless deforestation.”

The production of the 100 billion pieces of junk mail that Americans annually receive requires more than 100 million trees, while producing as much global warming emissions as 3.7 million cars. Moreover, this deforestation is occurring in forests that play vital roles in the fight against climate change: the Canadian Boreal and Indonesian Tropical Forest. If left intact, these trees and soils act as a defense against global warming. The Canadian Boreal Forest forms part of the greater Boreal Forest, which alone stores more carbon than any other terrestrial ecosystem on earth. Yet, it is still logged at a rate of 2 acres a minute, 24 hours a day, to produce junk mail and other paper products.

Junk mail distributed in the United States currently accounts for 30% of all the mail delivered in the world, though 44% of it goes to landfills unopened.

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24th Universal Postal Congress – 23 July to 12 August 2008

Posted by | Mar 11, 2008 | |

The 24th Universal Postal Congress will be held from 23 July to 12 August 2008 in Geneva (Switzerland).

More than 1,500 delegates from the UPU’s 191 member countries will gather to discuss the major issues affecting the global postal sector today.

The Universal Postal Congress is the supreme authority of the Union and brings together plenipotentiaries of all member countries. One of the major accomplishments of Congresses held since the first Berne Congress in 1874 has been to assist member countries to develop a worldwide postal network that is accessible and affordable to all citizens and to introduce products and services that meet customer needs.

Although Congress’ main function is legislative, the recent tendency has been to focus more on strategic and broad policy issues and the 2008 Congress will adopt a World Postal Strategy that will serve as a roadmap for member countries and UPU bodies until the next Congress in 2012.

Congress also elects the Director General and the Deputy Director General, as well as the members of the Council of Administration and of the Postal Operations Council.

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Decision on Highlands of Scotland Area plan

Posted by | Mar 11, 2008 | |

Post Office Ltd today announced decisions on the future of Post Office® branches across the Highlands of Scotland, following a six week public consultation ending on 18 February.

Post Office® services will be provided through a network of 181 branches, which supports the national accessibility criteria introduced by the UK Government and ensures that 99.5% of the area’s population will either see no change to their existing branch or will remain within one mile (by road distance) of an alternative branch.

The plan confirmed today (March 11 2008) means that 17 branches will close in the area, with the first closures scheduled to take place in April 2008. These branches were detailed in the Area Plan proposal published on 8 January 2008. In addition, Post Office Ltd is also confirming the creation of 11 outreach post office services.

One branch originally proposed for closure – Pulteneytown in Wick – will now remain open following a review of the issues raised during consultation. These issues related to local demographics. Post Office Ltd was concerned that the closure would severely disadvantage vulnerable groups in the area and that alternative branches were not sufficiently easy to reach. There are no proposals for any further closures in the Highlands area plan.

These decisions have been reached after consultation and Postwatch, the consumer body representing Post Office® customers, has verified the correct consultation procedures were followed.

During the six-week local public consultation, Post Office Ltd received around 1,500 responses and attended 12 meetings with customers and their representatives to understand customers’ concerns. This was to ensure that all information provided by customers formed part of the final decision regarding each affected branch.

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Consultation starts on changes to post office network – Post Office Ltd announces plans for Central Wales

Posted by | Mar 11, 2008 | |

Post Office Ltd today opened a six-week local public consultation on its Area Plan for the Central Wales area. In line with the criteria and factors set by the UK Government in its Response Document, the Area Plan proposes future provision of Post Office services through a network of 153 Post Office® branches across the Central Wales area, including establishing 24 new innovative Outreach service points, but to close 13 existing branches.

Under the proposals, more than 98.8% of the area’s population will either see no change, or will remain within one mile (by road distance) of an alternative branch.

The detailed Area Plan proposal for Central Wales area is now available from Post Office Ltd at: www.postoffice.co.uk/networkchange.

Post Office Ltd is now seeking views on the proposed future service provision in the area, in particular views on access to Post Office services, the accessibility of alternative branches to those proposed for closure.

The local public consultation on the Area Plan Proposal for Central Wales will commence on 11th March 2008.

The local public consultation usually lasts for a period of six weeks, however Post Office Ltd will be suspending consultation activity, including participating in public meetings, and will not announce any final decisions regarding closures or replacement Outreach services, from 10 April 2008 until 2 May 2008. This coincides with the run up to the local elections taking place in England and Wales and is in line with the usual guidelines regarding such elections.

The closing date for feedback in respect of the local public consultation is therefore 19th May 2008.

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Four new stamps feature on Northern Ireland miniature sheet

Posted by | Mar 11, 2008 | |

St Patrick is in the spotlight on a new Miniature Sheet issued by Royal Mail celebrating the history and traditions of Northern Ireland.

The Celebrating Northern Ireland Miniature Sheet, issued today (11 March), will be the latest destination in Royal Mail’s Four Countries of the UK series.

Celebrating Northern Ireland is the third in the series, which are issued on or before the Saint’s Day of each country. The grand tour of the UK began in Scotland on St Andrew’s Day 2006 and continued with England in 2007.

Celebrating Northern Ireland features two standard 1st Class stamps and two 78p long-format stamps. Carrickfergus Castle, the first of the two 1st Class stamps, is positioned on the top left of the sheet, next to artist Clare Melinsky’s stunning illustration of St Patrick on a 78p long-format stamp.

Just below them, to the left sits Belfast’s Queen’s Bridge and the Thanksgiving Beacon 78p stamp while the sheet is completed by the other 1st Class stamp – the Giant’s Causeway stamp.

Fittingly, St Patrick is also the focus of the Presentation Pack which takes an in-depth look at his legend and history. The pack is written by Esther Kennedy.

Interestingly, unlike its two predecessors in the series, The Celebrating Northern Ireland Miniature Sheet is printed in litho rather than in gravure.

Julietta Edgar, Head of Special Stamps, Royal Mail said: “St. Patrick’s day is enjoyed by so many people around the world that we are delighted to announce these special stamps, which people can use when sending cards to friends and family in celebration of this famous annual event.”

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Itella tests automated parcel terminal also in Estonia

Posted by | Mar 10, 2008 | |

Itella is the first in Estonia to test an automated parcel terminal, which offers a new way for consumers to pick up their parcels. The three-month pilot project will be launched in co-operation with Hobby Hall on 10 March in Tallinn’s Rimi shopping centre.

‘Itella Logistics operates in eight countries. Until now, the national postal operator of the destination country has been the primary party in charge of delivering Itella’s parcels to consumers outside Finland. The automated parcel terminal pilot is the first step for us toward delivering parcels to consumers through our own network even outside Finland. We will test the functionality of the automated parcel terminal concept in Estonia in the same way as in the pilot project in Itäkeskus, Helsinki, announced a week ago. It has received very positive feedback,’ explains Aku Happo, the director of Itella’s Express and Parcel Business.

At the same time, Itella will launch delivery of parcels in Estonia through R-kiosks – within a month, co-operation will commence with three indoor R-kiosks in Tallinn.

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