Tag: Domestic

Post-Switch Urges Bulk Mailers to Consider Alternatives to Royal Mail

Posted by | Mar 10, 2008 | |

Independent postal broking agency, Post-Switch is urging high volume mailers to reduce postage costs by switching from Royal Mail before it puts up its prices.

On April 2nd 2007, Royal Mail raised first class postage by 2p and second class by 1p and its commercial service ‘MailSort’ increased tariff prices by 1 pct – 3.8 pct. As part of its pricing agreement up to 2010, Royal Mail is proposing a further price hike in April 2008 of 6p.

Post-Switch is an impartial postal broker, providing expert advice on matching direct mail to the most suitable supplier at the optimum tariff. Set up in 2006, Post-Switch is part of integrated communications group, Kingfisher. It understands where savings can be made on postage and will negotiate with up to 20 rival postal providers including DHL, UPS, and TNT to achieve the best price and the best delivery date.

Post-Switch already handles over one million items of mail each month and is working with high volume mailers like Marie Curie Cancer Care and NSPCC as well as commercial operator, Network Rail. The service offered by Post-Switch delivers direct mail campaigns in 48 hours and can secure savings of up to 22.5 pct against MailSort charges.

To incentivise companies to switch from Royal Mail to another provider, Post-Switch is offering those who sign up before 2nd April a postal price freeze until the end of 2007. This means that mailings will only cost the same unit rate for the rest of the year. So, if the rival operators to Royal Mail also raise their prices, Post-Switch clients will not be affected by the increase.

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Dutch aim for postal liberalisation on July 1

Posted by | Mar 4, 2008 | |

The Dutch government hopes the postponed liberalisation of the mail market, originally due in January, will come into force on July 1 depending on developments in Germany and Dutch labour negotiations.

Dutch Junior Economy Minister Frank Heemskerk said in a letter to parliament published late on Monday he hoped to have a clearer view on both matters by the middle of April.

“I hope it can then be concluded, taking into account the necessary caution, that it remains possible for the new postal law to come into effect on July 1, 2008,” he said.

The Netherlands decided in December to postpone the full opening of its mail market partly because of fears that a German minimum wage for postal workers impedes competition there after Deutsche Post lost its remaining monopoly on Jan. 1.

Dominant Dutch mail company TNT had hoped to expand in Germany but says it cannot compete effectively with Deutsche Post because the minimum wage per hour is too high.

TNT has sued the German state at a court in Berlin and Heemskerk said he would report back to parliament on an expected ruling in early April after a hearing on March 7.

He also noted Dutch postal companies were due to hold talks with workers in March about labour conditions in the Netherlands and said he would follow these talks closely.

The FNV trade union says the Netherlands should only open its postal market to full competition when all workers get minimum wages and have labour contracts.

TNT’s workers have employment contracts, but rivals privately-owned Sandd and Deutsche Post’s Dutch unit Selekt Mail usually do not offer contracts and pay postal workers by the number of items delivered.

Rabo Securities said in a note it did not expect the government would meet the July 1 date as the outcome of the German court case was highly uncertain and it doubted whether Dutch unions would reach a deal in time.

“From sources in the market, we understand that negotiations are progressing slowly. Especially the challengers Sandd and SelektMail are unwilling to sign a collective labour agreement, as long as there is no clarity on the liberalisation,” it said.

TNT has the remaining monopoly for letters up to 50 grammes in the Netherlands, estimated to be worth about 1 billion euros (USD 1.5 billion) in 2007.

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Royal Mail: Decision on Pension Plan Reform (UK)

Posted by | Mar 3, 2008 | |

Royal Mail has announced the outcome of its consultation on changes to its pension plan – 12 months after first proposing amending the scheme.

The changes follow extensive talks with unions and employee representatives since last April, which resulted in major changes to the original proposals, followed by a formal consultation with every employee member of the pension plan lasting more than 60 days from last November to mid-January this year.

Royal Mail reiterated the announcement made last autumn that both the CWU and Unite had agreed to support the changes as part of wider agreements with each on pay, modernisation and pension reform.

Details of the changes to the plan are being sent to every employee. The key points are:
• All pension benefits earned before 1 April 2008 will be protected and linked to final salary at the time of retirement.
• Employees can continue to take their pension on reaching 60 but the normal retirement age will increase to 65 from 1 April 2010. It will be possible to draw a pension at the age of 60 and continue working while still contributing into the pension plan until the maximum level of contributions has been reached.
• From 1 April 2008, benefits building up for employee members of the plan will be earned on a Career Salary basis.
• The plan will close to new members from 31 March 2008.
• A new defined contribution scheme will be launched in April 2009 and new recruits joining the company after 31 March 2008 will be able to join it after they have worked for the company for a year.

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Cost of postal services goes up by 25 pct in Samoa

Posted by | Mar 3, 2008 | |

The prices of domestic and international postal services in Samoa have gone up by 25 pct

Samoa Post’s acting general manager, Tupe Ualolo Nun Yan, says the tariff increase is inevitable and long overdue.

He explains that postal costs have gone up considerably since the postal tariff review for international mail in 2006, and the domestic mail review in 1994.

The increase is to offset the higher postal costs which have been caused by rising overseas and domestic delivery charges, freight, VAGST and inflation.

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Postcomm consults on licence application for Mr Aaron Leitner (trading as Post 123) (UK)

Posted by | Feb 27, 2008 | |

Postcomm today began a 30-day consultation on the proposed grant of a postal operator’s licence to Mr Aaron Leitner (trading as Post 123).

Under the licensing framework that took effect from 1 January 2006, and was amended in January 2008, the licence would:

– allow Mr Leitner to provide all types of postal service;
– be issued for a rolling ten year period; and
– require the company to comply with copdes of practice on mail integrity (safety and security of the mail) and common operational procedures (designed to ensure the multi-operator market works well in practice).

The consultation notice and proposed licence can be found on the Post 123 consultation page.

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