Author: Archive

Court of Appeal upholds GBP 9.62 million financial penalties imposed on Royal Mail

Posted by | Feb 5, 2008 | |

The Court of Appeal has upheld the GBP 9.62 million financial penalty Postcomm imposed on Royal Mail for failing to protect adequately the mail in its care, following an appeal of the penalty by Royal Mail. The judgment reinforces Postcomm’s position that the penalty is proportionate and reflects the loss suffered by customers.

In a unanimous judgment, the three judges confirmed that Postcomm had a broad discretion to determine the amount of the penalty and that, in reaching its determination, it had made the best assessment it could, given the evidence available to it.

Royal Mail did not dispute Postcomm’s finding that it breached its licence requirements to keep mail safe and secure, nor that this breach was serious; it appealed only against the level of the financial penalty.

On 24 August 2006, Postcomm imposed a financial penalty of GBP9.62 million on Royal Mail for breaching its licence by failing to properly protect the mail in its care. The penalty followed a review of Royal Mail’s mail integrity procedures, during which Postcomm found that some important features of Royal Mail’s procedures were not being applied across the business. Royal Mail previously challenged the penalty in the High Court but, following a hearing, the court ruled in favour of Postcomm. The Court of Appeal has now upheld the earlier decision of the High Court.

The most significant weakness found was the poor management of the recruitment and training process for non-contract (agency) staff. In addition, the framework and information systems that Royal Mail had put in place to prevent the loss, theft and damage to mail were not operated effectively. These weaknesses significantly reduced Royal Mail’s ability to protect its customers’ mail.

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What does the future of on-line retailing hold?

Posted by | Feb 5, 2008 | |

A free seminar from the IMRG looks at how companies can increase sales through multi-channel activity

The latest IMRG figures reveal GBP 15.2 billion spent online in Q4 and full year 2007 came in at GBP 46 billion.

This seminar will look at whether this spend is set to continue, what is driving the growth and how companies can increase sales through multi-channel activity and managing customer contact centres more effectively with a case history on Sainsbury’s Online Groceries. Latest industry trends and figures will also be revealed.

These are some of the issues that will be debated by IMRG, eDigitalResearch – one of the leading providers of digital market research, in conjunction with Teleperformance – the world’s largest customer contact centre outsourcer and works with some of the UK’s largest brands, including Sainsbury’s Supermarkets, moneysupermarket.com and JD Williams.

The afternoon will be chaired by Liz Barclay, BBC radio presenter, who will lead a lively debate on the issues facing the online retailing industry.

The seminar is free of charge and places are limited. The seminar takes place on Thursday 6th March, 2008, 1 pm – 5pm at a central London venue. Please book now to avoid disappointment by calling Kellie Cooper on 0121 410 5000 or email [email protected]

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Wal-Mart launches online shopping tool for Valentine’s Day

Posted by | Feb 5, 2008 | |

Wal-Mart has introduced HelpaChickPick.com and re-introduced HelpaGuyBuy.com, online shopping tools that help customers identify the gift profile of their significant other, and then select the perfect gift to suit it.

“Valentine’s Day should be sweet, not stressful, but for many people frustration over finding that just-right present diminishes the romance of the day,” said Nick Agarwal, Wal-Mart’s vice president in corporate communications. “With Helpachickpick.com and Helpaguybuy.com, we take the guesswork out of gift-giving. This online tool helps our customers find gifts their significant others will cherish and save money while they treat their Valentine to something special.”

Customers answer short questions about the recipient’s personality and the sites will identify a corresponding category, such as fashionista or sports fanatic, and offer gift suggestions chosen just for them.

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Royal Mail loses another Human Resources Director as Kevin Green walks (UK)

Posted by | Feb 5, 2008 | |

Royal Mail has lost its second high-profile human resources (HR) director in a matter of weeks with Kevin Green’s surprise departure from the organisation.

Green, people and organisational development director for the letters division, is understood to have left suddenly late last month. His exit follows group HR director Tony McCarthy’s move to British Airways (BA) in November last year.

Green joined Royal Mail in October 2003 as chief learning officer, moving into the director role in September 2004. Before joining Royal Mail, he was managing director of HR consultancy Qtab.

Despite recent industrial relations problems, Green boosted his reputation among the profession during his time at Royal Mail by steering through major changes. The company reduced its HR spend by GBP 57m in two years as part of a massive organisational overhaul, slashing headcount in the HR function and improving sickness absence rates.

Royal Mail confirmed Green’s departure and that Dale Haddon, previously group talent director, had replaced him.

The likelihood of Green reuniting with his former boss at BA is small. Insiders have claimed the two men had a difficult working relationship, and clashed on more than one occasion.

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Norway Post to Improve Citizen Portal and Internal Information Access with FAST

Posted by | Feb 4, 2008 | |

Fast Search & Transfer announced that Norway Post has selected the award-winning FAST Enterprise Search Platform (FAST ESP(TM)) to improve their customer facing portals and several others of the organization’s internal solutions.

Norway Post is one of Norway’s biggest companies, with operations throughout the country. The group had revenues of NOK23.7 billion in 2006 and employs just over 23,000 employees. Norway Post’s ambition is to develop into a leading mail and logistics corporation in the Nordic region. Its vision is to become the world’s most future-oriented mail and logistics corporation.

Norway Post selected FAST and Comperio after an extensive tender process, and the implementation will entail search solutions for the postal services in Norway, Sweden and Denmark, as well as several other subsidiaries. FAST ESP will become a central component of the IT infrastructure at Norway Post, and the solution also includes additional components based on FAST ESP developed by FAST’s partner Comperio.

“Norway Post will use FAST search technology across several functional areas and in both customer-facing and internal solutions,” commented Dr. John M. Lervik, FAST’s CEO. “We are extremely pleased to see that what we have been stating all along – that search is becoming a key necessity and at the centre of IT infrastructure, is becoming more and more adopted across both private and public organizations.”

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DSV sells stake in Tollpost to Swedish postal service for 993 mln dkr

Posted by | Feb 4, 2008 | |

Danish transport group DSV AS said it has agreed to sell its 50 pct stake in Norwegian transport company Tollpost Globe AS to Swedish postal service, with an agreed equity value of 993 mln dkr.

The transaction will have a positive earnings impact of 440 mln dkr for DSV in 2008, it added. The profit, which is non-taxable, will be recognised under special items.

DSV said it has operated Tollpost as a joint venture with Swedish postal service, Posten AB, since 2001, when Posten acquired its initial 50 pct stake in the Norwegian company in connection with its takeover of DSV Parcel.

DSV said its existing trading agreement with Tollpost will remain in force, and that it will thus retain access to the company’s national distribution network in Norway.

‘Ongoing investments in and development of the parcel distribution activities of Tollpost Globe AS have obviously led to greater affiliation with Posten AB than with DSV,’ DSV said.

‘Management of DSV has therefore found that the disposal of its stake in Tollpost Globe AS is the most expedient way to ensure the continued development of the commercial core areas of both Tollpost Globe AS and DSV,’ it added.

The transaction is subject to approval by Norwegian authorities.

1 DKK = 0.198923 USD

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Post Office launches new Christmas Club with ‘bonus’ for members

Posted by | Feb 4, 2008 | |

Customers joining the new Post Office® Christmas Club will receive a booklet of special offers worth at least GBP 100 to redeem in selected retail partners from November 2008.

The Christmas Club is now available at all 14,000 Post Office® branches nationwide offering customers a convenient way to budget for Christmas 2008.

We each spend an average of GBP 393 on Christmas presents alone, and according to research conducted by YouGov for the Post Office® many of us spend more than we can afford.

Forty three per cent said they felt pressured to overspend, and 24 per cent admitted they would still be paying for Christmas at Easter.

Planning and budgeting is the solution suggested by 83 per cent of the survey, but only 29 per cent agreed they set a Christmas spending budget and stuck to it.

With the Post Office® Christmas Club you can plan ahead, making pre-payments from just GBP 5 over the counter at any Post Office® branch using a special Christmas Club payment card.

From 1 November the card is unlocked, enabling customers to use it to buy goods and services directly at retailers, or to purchase retail gift vouchers. The maximum individual payment is GBP 500, up to a total of GBP 1,000 per card per annum.

Each club member will receive a great bonus booklet of at least GBP 100 in special offers with selected retail partners – a significant benefit compared to current rates available from high street savings account.

Post Office® marketing director Gary Hockey-Morley said: “As one of the UK’s most trusted brands with an unparalleled retail network, we are responding to the need for a convenient way for people to put money aside for Christmas.

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Royal Mail: Online bankers still want paper statements (UK)

Posted by | Feb 4, 2008 | |

Some 19 per cent of online bankers would switch providers if they were no longer able to receive statements and confidential information through the post, a Royal Mail survey has found.

Banking via the internet is a popular choice for many these days and can allow borrowers access to functions such as overdraft extensions, direct debits and up-to-the minute statements.

However, research commissioned by Royal Mail found that 68 per cent of those who conduct their money matters on the web still liked receiving paper correspondence, while seven in ten believed it was safer to receive confidential data this way.

When asked about utility providers, 35 per cent of consumers said they would take their custom elsewhere should their current supplier decide not to send statements by mail.

“Many companies are currently actively encouraging people to transact with them online, but they need to ensure that this is what their customers really want,” commented Abi Wood, head of financial sector marketing at Royal Mail.

“This research demonstrates the importance and value that many people place on having a hard copy record of their transactions.”

According to UK payments association Apacs, the number of card payments on the internet reached 426 million in 2006.

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