Year: 2008

Local Consultations Start in the Highlands of Scotland on Changes to Post Office Network

Posted by | Jan 8, 2008 | |

Post Office Ltd today (8 January 2008) begins local public consultations in the Highlands of Scotland on changes to the Post Office network needed to meet UK Government requirements.

Proposals for the future provision of Post Office® services in the Highlands have been published today and will remain open for consultation for six weeks until 18 February 2008.

Under the Highlands Area Plan Proposals published today, 96.9 pct of the population will either see no change to their nearest branch, or will remain within one mile (by road distance) of an alternative branch.

Post Office Ltd is seeking views on the proposed future service provision in the Highlands of Scotland, including, in particular, views on access to Post Office® services, the accessibility of alternative branches to those proposed for closure and the appropriate provision of rural outreach services.

Of the 180 Post Office® branches which are proposed to remain open in the Highlands, 11 branches will be operated through a form of outreach service. The plan proposes a reduction of 18 branches from the present number of 198.

The Highands Area Plan includes proposed outreach services in rural communities in:

Kirkhill (Hosted)
Kessock (Partner)
Edderton (Hosted)
Kildary (Hosted)
Cawdor (As we have been unable to date to secure a Hosted site. A Mobile post office is now the proposed option)
Croy (Hosted)
Ardersier (Partner)
Farr (Hosted)
Latheron (Mobile)
Mid Clyth (Mobile)
Canisbay (Mobile)

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Business Direct Issues its First International ParcelXchange

Posted by | Jan 8, 2008 | |

Business Direct Group plc, the UK’s leading in-night distribution provider and operator of the ParcelXchange intelligent “drop-box” logistics solution, has signed its first international licence of the ParcelXchange, with DHL Same Day Ireland.

The licence, which is for a six year term and with territorial exclusivity, is for 40 ParcelXchanges in the newly-developed modular configuration of both box sizes and number of columns, thereby addressing the specific needs of individual locations. DHL Same Day will initially be supplied with 10 ParcelXchanges to be located in major towns and cities throughout the Republic of Ireland, with the roll-out beginning in the first quarter of 2008.

DHL Same Day plans to use the ParcelXchanges for in-night deliveries for field service engineers and B2B sameday solutions. The ParcelXchanges will offer higher levels of customer service whilst permitting consolidation of deliveries and cost reduction in the supply chain.

Sean Moran, Director of DHL Same Day Ireland, stated, “The intelligent ParcelXchange is the most exciting opportunity to happen in the in-night real-time inventory management sector in Ireland for a long time. “This is another example of DHL Same Day’s continuous investment in the business and this new service will ensure we are well positioned to constantly meet the growing needs of our customers”.

Business Direct’s worldwide ParcelXchange licensing business has been under development since February 2007, under the direction of Tim Houstoun, and was launched officially in October 2007 at the Post-Expo Exhibition in Barcelona. Considerable interest has been expressed by national Post Offices and major logistics companies in many countries around the world. Trials are currently taking place in mainland Europe and East Asia and discussions are being held with regard to several other territories.

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Direct Marketing Association (DMA) Unveils Free Online Service

Posted by | Jan 8, 2008 | |

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) today announced plans to enhance DMAChoice, with the latest evolution of DMA’s Mail Preference Service (MPS), and remove the USD 1 verification fee online, to help consumers decide what catalogs they receive in their mailbox. The USD 1 charge had been an integral part of the MPS validation process.

For the first time, DMA will allow consumers to opt out of mailing
lists by individual brands for free online through DMAChoice, accessible to
consumers at http://www.dmachoice.org. In addition, consumers will be able to
select the catalogs they do wish to receive. DMAChoice has been enhanced to
provide consumers greater choice and will assure the catalog community with
the most reliability, security, authenticity, and control.

The service will allow consumers to choose individual brands and
catalogs they no longer want to receive through the website, an extension
of the service already available to consumers via mail.

DMAChoice is part of DMA’s broader initiative to meet consumer concerns over volume and choice in the receipt of mail. DMA recently announced its new Commitment to Consumer Choice (http://www.dmaccc.org/Home.aspx), a set of guidelines that apply to all DMA members using mail to communicate with consumers. The DMA Board also adopted the Green 15 (http://www.the-dma.org/Green15Toolkit/), a resolution calling all members to implement 15 business practices to deliver environmental benefits.

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Lost data disc found in depot (UK)

Posted by | Jan 7, 2008 | |

A missing computer disc holding medical records of 160,000 children has been found – stuck in a conveyor belt at a giant mail depot.

The CD, which had been lost in the post, was spotted by a worker at the TNT parcel office.

It is thought to have become lodged in the workings of a mechanical sorting system at the distribution firm’s main depot in Nine Elms, South West London.

A further EIGHT discs containing patient records are still unaccounted for.

But the find raises hopes that those – plus two others holding personal details of half the population – could be lying unnoticed, rather than in the hands of identity thieves.

TNT alerted police as soon as the disc was discovered on Saturday.

The CD vanished after being posted from City and Hackney Primary Care Trust to St Leonard’s Hospital in East London.

It was one of nine containing information on 168,000 patients which have gone missing from NHS trusts across the country.

The losses were revealed just before Christmas, following a Government-wide data security review.

That was sparked after Chancellor Alistair Darling admitted in the Commons that child benefit records of 25 million Britons had gone missing after being sent on CDs through insecure post by HM Revenue and Customs.

The Metropolitan Police serious and economic crime unit is still searching for them.

Senior officers believe they were probably mistakenly thrown away by a civil servant.

It also emerged that details of three million learner drivers had also been lost after being sent to the US.

There is no evidence any of the missing discs have fallen into the hands of fraudsters or blackmailers.

But their loss has raised concerns about the Government’s new Connecting for Health database.

The system, costing tens of billions of pounds, would hold medical.

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GLS France: strong growth in export volumes

Posted by | Jan 7, 2008 | |

GLS France recorded a 25 pct growth in export shipments sent to Europe last year further strengthening its cross-border structures and enhancing European interchange.

From Paris and regions bordering on Germany, export volumes rose by 46 pct compared to previous year, the parcels firm said in a statement. It did not release any total figures for volumes or revenues.

GLS said the export parcels are mainly destined for countries bordering on France like Germany, Belgium and Italy. The majority of parcels are exported to Germany (23 pct), Belgium (20 pct), Italy (1 pct), UK (13 pct) and Spain (11 pct).

GLS France said it expected this growth to continue and would continue to optimise its tools and processes to boost this development. For example, in April 2007 it established a direct connection ensuring 24-hour delivery from Paris to Belgium.

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TNT completes its first euro 200 million tranche and starts on the second

Posted by | Jan 7, 2008 | |

Further to the share buyback programme announced on 30 July 2007 and a first euro 200 million tranche execution announced on 09 November 2007, TNT N.V. announces that this first tranche was completed on 04 January 2008. Starting today TNT will engage in a second euro 100 million tranche, as announced on 06 December 2007.

– on 03 January 2008, it purchased 89,500 TNT N.V. ordinary shares at an average price of euro 27.6485 per share,
– on 04 January 2008, it purchased 62,919 TNT N.V. ordinary shares at an average price of euro 27.6776 per share,
– during the period from 12 November 2007 until and including 04 January 2008, it purchased a total of 7,185,694 TNT N.V. ordinary shares at an average price of euro 27.8331 per share, and
– as the total amount of the share buyback until and including 04 January 2008 therefore amounts to the announced maximum of euro 200 million, a first tranche of this share buyback programme has been completed.

TNT’s issued share capital currently consists of 379,224,255 ordinary shares. This number includes the 7,185,694 shares repurchased as part of the above-mentioned first tranche, which TNT intends to cancel taking into account applicable regulations as stipulated by law and the articles of association.

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Polar Air Cargo hires Thomas Betenia as Vice-President Sales and Marketing, Americas

Posted by | Jan 7, 2008 | |

Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. announced that Polar Air Cargo Worldwide, Inc. (Polar) has hired Thomas Betenia as Vice President Sales and Marketing, Americas, effective January 7, 2008. Mr. Betenia, who will be based in Purchase, NY, comes to Polar from Lufthansa Cargo AG, most recently as Director of Sales and Handling for the U.S. Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.

At Polar, Mr. Betenia will oversee all sales and marketing activities in the Americas. This will include building on Polar’s existing business with its scheduled-service customers while leveraging the Company’s added express capabilities on behalf of current and prospective customers. As part of its commercial agreement with DHL Express, Polar will begin offering express service for DHL in October, 2008, requiring close network and geographic integration.

Mr. Betenia, 47, joined Lufthansa Cargo AG in 1980. During his first 15 years there, he held positions of increasing responsibility in areas as diverse as accounting, flight operations, network planning, and sales and marketing.

Randy Clark, Chief Operating Officer, Polar Air Cargo Worldwide, Inc., said, “Our operations in the Americas get a huge lift from the addition of Tom to Polar. We have planned for scheduling and staffing to accommodate the high-quality, high-reliability service required in the express business. At the same time, we will continue to serve our freight-forwarder customers with convenient schedules on existing routes. Tom’s experience will benefit both our express and scheduled service operations.”

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