Author: Archive

Mayor of London slams Post Office 'privatisation' plans

Posted by | Apr 20, 2007 | |

The Mayor of London has slammed the announcement by the Post Office that it will privatise 70 Crown Post Offices across the country, including 15 in London.

Ken Livingstone claims the move could lead to the loss of around 3,000 jobs nationally and a loss of around 700 jobs in London.

The announcement comes only weeks before the Government is expected to announce the results of its consultation on the future of the Post Office Network next month. The Government’s consultation paper proposed closing up to 2,500 Post Offices.

Ken Livingstone, said: “This proposal for the privatisation of Post Offices across London is terrible news for the hundreds of thousands of Londoners who rely on their local Post Offices.

“Recent research has shown that privatised Post Offices have poorer information on services, worse facilities for disabled customers and lower levels of customer service.

“WH Smith’s cut price approach to pay and employment practices will mean that Post Office customers will lose out as services deteriorate.

“The Post Office should be investing in better services for customers not reducing local services.

“With the number of Post Offices in London having fallen by over a quarter in the last three years, the last thing we need is further cuts and closures.

“That’s why I am supporting the ‘Future for our Post Office campaign’ to put the unquestionable case to Government to invest in the Post Office network and not make further closures.”

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US Postal Service to raise postage rates for smaller publications

Posted by | Apr 20, 2007 | |

The US Postal Service has accepted a proposal from Time Warner to raise postage rates significantly for smaller publications while reducing rates for larger publishers like Hearst and Time Warner. A coalition of smaller, independent media, including Free Press, a national non-partisan organization working to reform media, and the Media Consortium, including Ms., magazine, Mother Jones, The Nation, American Prospect, The Progressive, In These Times, and other independent media, are working to send a massive number of letters to the Postal Service and Congress protesting this postage hike.

Time Warner’s plan was chosen — with no public input — instead of another proposal that would have imposed a mostly equal increase (approx. 12 percent) for all magazine publishers. If implemented, the Time Warner plan could force many smaller publications out of business, according to Free Press.

The US Postal Service is currently accepting comments on the postage change. Free Press, Ms., and other groups are working to collect thousands of comments calling on Congress to step in and reverse the postage hike.

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Postcomm extends deadline for responses to zonal pricing consultation

Posted by | Apr 20, 2007 | |

On 20th February 2007 Royal Mail submitted a revised application to Postcomm for permission to change the way that it prices many of its bulk mail services. The application seeks permission to be allowed to vary certain business tariffs according to the geographic location of the recipients of mail (known as “zonal pricing”).

On 2 April 2007, Postcomm, the independent regulator for postal services in the UK, published a letter seeking views from all interested stakeholders on whether Royal Mail should be allowed to proceed with its zonal pricing application.

We have received a number of requests to extend the current deadline of 7 May 2007 for responding to Postcomm’s consultation letter.

We have carefully considered these requests, weighing them against Postcomm’s requirement to make a decision on Royal Mail’s application to introduce zonal pricing no later than 2 January 2008. Postcomm has decided to extend the deadline for responding to its consultation letter to allow interested parties more time to respond and make full use of Royal Mail’s zonal pricing calculator. We expect that better informed responses will greatly help Postcomm’s analysis in developing its provisional conclusions.

The new deadline for sending your views to Postcomm is 1 June 2007.

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TNT’s Annual General Meeting of Shareholders adopts dividend for 2006

Posted by | Apr 20, 2007 | |

TNT N.V. announced that the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders (AGM) adopted the 2006 financial statements and determined the dividend over 2006 at euro 0.73 per ordinary share, duly noting that euro 0.26 per ordinary share had already been paid as an interim dividend. An amount of euro 0.47 per ordinary share therefore remains as final dividend, which shall be made payable on 2 May 2007.

Furthermore the AGM adopted the following resolutions:
• Appointment of Mrs. M. Harris as member of the Supervisory Board
• Re-appointment of Messrs. R. Dahan, V. Halberstadt and W. Kok as members of the Supervisory Board
• Extension of the authority of the Board of Management to issue ordinary shares until 20 October 2008
• Extension of the authority of the Board of Management to limit or exclude the pre-emptive right to the issuance of ordinary shares until 20 October 2008
• The authorisation of the Board of Management to acquire own shares to a maximum of 10% of the issued capital until 20 October 2008
• Reduction of the issued capital through cancellation of 30,947,707 ordinary shares and through cancellation of ordinary shares to be repurchased under the new purchase program, announced on 26 February 2007 and starting on 23 April 2007
• Amendments of the Articles of Association, pursuant to which rights attached to the special share will lapse.

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GBP 1 Post Office® travel money card means no hidden cash fees

Posted by | Apr 20, 2007 | |

Holidaymakers can now avoid the hidden costs involved in withdrawing cash abroad by using the Post Office® Travel Money Card, which has been relaunched with a GBP 1 minimum spend.

In contrast to the exchange rate loading fees and percentage-based cash advance charges levied by credit card companies and banks, the Post Office® Travel Money Card represents the foolproof, affordable way to use ‘plastic’ when holidaying overseas, with a straightforward GBP 2 fee on cash withdrawals and no charge at all on shop or restaurant purchases.

Originally launched last summer with a minimum spend of GBP 250, the Post Office Travel Money Card now allows customers complete flexibility to choose how much money they put onto the card.

Holidaymakers can put between GBP 1 and GBP 5,000 onto the Travel Money Card instantly at 2,400 Post Office® branches. The card can then be used to pay for goods and services in locations where Visa Electron is accepted or to withdraw funds at any Visa ATM.

Trials undertaken in Post Office® branches since the introduction of the GBP 1 minimum spend on the Travel Money Card have already indicated a significant 40% increase in demand. Average spend has dropped from GBP 530, a high figure for foreign currency transactions, to GBP 342 since the more flexible investment policy was introduced.

Post Office® Head of Travel Kevin McAdam says that “the cost of convenience can be high when withdrawing cash abroad using your debit card. Too often holidaymakers return home to an unpleasant financial surprise when they discover that they have incurred unexpected costs for using a debit card.

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Correos acquires six new automatic sorting lines

Posted by | Apr 19, 2007 | |

Correos has acquired six new automatic sorting lines for ordinary mail to reinforce the equipment of its 17 Automatic Sorting Offices located throughout Spain. The aim of this investment is to improve the quality of the postal service and increase management capacity in specific areas in order to implement the post office’s Automation Plan. The investment amounts to euro 15.47 million and the lines will be implemented within a period of 18 months.

The six new lines will be installed in the new sorting office for local mail in the city of Barcelona (three lines); in the first Automated Sorting Office in Castilla La Mancha, which is in Ciudad Real (one line); and in the new Automated Sorting Office in Alicante (two lines).

Each sorting line consists of an optical reader with automatic character recognition and a classifying machine. This is cutting edge technology that is capable of automatically sorting 40,000 deliveries per hour, which has already been proven through the experience with other such equipment that has already been installed, thus ensuring compatibility, continuity and standardisation with other stages of the project and continuity in the Automation Plan.

The acquisition of this new equipment will contribute to considerable improvement in the quality of the company’s processes and in the working conditions of the employees of Correos. The post office will also have greater resources for handling occasional increases in the volume of deliveries, as this increase in equipment means that more deliveries can be handled in the same periods.

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IntelliTrack announces improved package tracking applications

Posted by | Apr 19, 2007 | |

IntelliTrack, Inc., developer of barcode, RFID and wireless software, announced a new software upgrade to improve mailroom management. IntelliTrack’s software program, Package Track, decreases the amount of time spent identifying and redistributing incoming packages within an organization’s mailroom. The newest version, 3.1, utilizes a SQL backend database in addition to efficient carrier and tracking number identification found in each barcode for incoming packages.

Incoming packages from major carriers such as UPS, DHL, FedEx, and USPS are scanned and entered into the Package Track database. Packages are then tracked through the chain of custody from the moment a package is received from the carrier, until the final recipient signs for it. Packages are delivered to the recipient, scanned, and a signature is captured on the hand-held device to document proof of delivery.

Performance improvements include faster portable data terminal (PDT) response by eliminating the delay in recipient queries and selection for each package. This feature is instrumental for larger organizations with abundant lists of potential mail recipients. When using previous versions of the software, larger databases would take several minutes to locate each desired recipient requiring the user to scroll through lengthy lists. With Package Track SQL version 3.1, recipients can be instantly identified accelerating mailroom management processes.

Along with performance improvements, Package Track now has the ability to read larger barcodes up to 55 characters. With user definable tracking formats, each barcode can define what carrier is in control of each package. The tracking number is automatically extracted from each barcode and easily defined on a portable data computer after the barcode is scanned.

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