Tag: Domestic

Post-Switch urges charities to beat Royal Mail price rise

Posted by | Feb 6, 2008 | |

Price comparison agency Post-Switch is encouraging companies and charities to compare offerings to help them keep mailing costs down and beat the Royal Mail price hike.

On 7 April 2008 Royal Mail is putting up the cost of first class mail from 34p to 36p and second class by 3p from 24p to 27p. For commercial business users, including charities, Royal Mail will be raising its Mailsort tariff rates: for example, Mailsort 2 is typically going up by a unit cost of 1.5p and Mailsort 3 mailings by 0.8p.

At Christian relief and development agency Tearfund, Clive Mear, Production Director, has resized all the charity’s mailings including the Living gifts voucher scheme and the Fair Trade goods catalogue to keep the price of postage down. A member of the Charity Print Consortium, Mear uses Post-Switch to compare prices for all mailings over 10,000.

Dartford-based printing firm Howard Hunt sends out over 600 million direct mail packs a year for such household brands as British Gas and Vodaphone as well as charities including Oxfam. Lucy Edwards at Howard Hunt says that comparing postal prices on every project is essential: she said: “Our clients trust us to keep the cost of their jobs down and often look to us for help in stretching the budget, so switching postal providers when we can to save money makes sense.”

Post-Switch recommends that direct mail managers should have a postal health check every quarter to ensure they are receiving the most competitive rates.

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Post Office compensation claim could cost millions

Posted by | Feb 6, 2008 | |

Royal Mail could be forced to pay several million pounds in compensation amid accusations that it flouted employment law in its restructuring of the Post Office network.

The organisation’s Post Office division is being taken to an employment tribunal by the Communication Workers Union (CWU), on behalf of 1,300 employees who worked for Crown Post Offices that were franchised to WHSmith and other organisations.

The CWU says that the workers were told that they could take redundancy or be redeployed to other Post Offices, but not that they were entitled under law to transfer to the new owners of the offices under the same terms and conditions as they enjoyed at the Post Office. Crown offices are the larger high street branches that are directly managed by Royal Mail, as opposed to the small branches that are run as individual businesses. The union’s claim will be heard at a tribunal in London in May. The CWU is asking for 13 weeks’ payment for the workers, averaging GBP 5,000 each.

The claim for compensation on behalf of the workers, which could total GBP 6.5 million, emerged as MPs on the Commons Business and Enterprise Committee held an inquiry into the closure of up to 2,500 Post Offices. Peter Luff, chair of the committee, asked Alan Cook, the Post Office’s managing director, to provide evidence of the communication to the employees. He said: “We would like further details on this, because I can’t see how this complies with the law.”

The issue flared as the Court of Appeal upheld a GBP 9.62 million fine on Royal Mail imposed by Postcomm for failing to protect mail that went astray. The problem was highlighted in a Channel 4 television investigation.

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Postcomm publishes decision document on Royal Mail zonal pricing application (UK)

Posted by | Feb 5, 2008 | |

Postcomm has today published a decision document giving its reasons for the rejection of Royal Mail’s application to charge large mailers – using products which are not part of the universal service – different prices depending on where in the UK their mail is delivered (Royal Mail calls this zonal pricing).

The reasons for this decision are broadly that Postcomm is not satisfied that the change would be introduced in a manner which avoids unreasonable changes to users, and because it involves discrimination.

In order to provide clarity to users of postal services, Postcomm announced in December 2007 that it would reject this application from Royal Mail.

This decision does not mean that Postcomm is ruling out any future moves towards retail zonal pricing for products outside the universal service should Royal Mail propose an alternative approach that avoids the problems presented by the current application. Postcomm is generally supportive of pricing that is more reflective of costs.

Royal Mail’s ‘zonal pricing’ application did not include services paid for by stamps or those bulk mail products that are included within the definition of the universal service and which must, under the Postal Services Act, remain priced at a uniform rate regardless of delivery zone across the country. It is open to Royal Mail to submit a new application if it can be framed to meet the relevant regulatory tests.

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USPS achieves positive net income despite volume drop

Posted by | Feb 5, 2008 | |

The U.S. Postal Service ended the first quarter of fiscal 2008 with net income of USD 672 million on revenue of USD 20.4 billion, according to preliminary financial results released Jan. 30.

Total revenue for the quarter ending Dec. 31 was up 3.5 percent over the same period last year primarily due to the May price change. The price increase masked weak volume for the quarter. Total mail volume declined 3 percent; First-Class Mail was particularly affected, declining by 3.9 percent.

“The economic downturn was the main factor for the volume decline, as the hard-hit financial and housing sectors are heavy users of the mail,” said Postmaster General John Potter. “I’m proud our managers and employees adjusted quickly to these changing market conditions, making a positive quarterly net income possible. Not only did they help us tighten our belt, but they provided record levels of service.”

Total expenses were USD 19.7 billion, versus 22.7 billion for the same period last year. The USD 3.0 billion difference was due to the one-time expense of funding retiree health benefits required in quarter one 2007 by the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006. Excluding the one-time cost, expenses remained constant, despite rising fuel and labor costs. This was accomplished while serving an additional 1.7 million new addresses versus the same period last year.

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Postcomm consults on license for Document Outsourcing Limited

Posted by | Feb 4, 2008 | |

Postcomm today began a 30-day consultation on the proposed grant of a postal operator’s licence to Document Outsourcing Limited.

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

– allow Document Outsourcing Limited to provide all types of postal service;
– be issued for a rolling ten year period; and
– require the company to comply with codes 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 Document Outsourcing Limited consultation page.

Postcomm is minded to, subject to consultation, to grant a licence to Document Outsourcing Limited. Postcomm believes that the proposed licence will further the interests of postal users by promoting competition between postal operators, and that it will have no adverse effect on the provision of a universal postal service in the United Kingdom.

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