Tag: Europe

Business Postal Services UK

Posted by | Jul 1, 2008 | |

Main findings:
The barriers to entry for mail collection and delivery are high, although, due to advances in digital printing, they are starting to come down. Competition has primarily come from the logistics sector, which also provides courier and express parcel-delivery services. New technology, however, could see new entrants from other quarters. Existing providers are already developing hybrid mail systems that allow users to e-mail their mail content, which is then sorted electronically before being sent, again electronically, to the nearest printing plant to the final destination point where the mail is printed, collated, put into envelopes, sorted according to Royal Mail’s Walksort criteria and delivered in that location.
This not only saves time and money, but also reduces the amount of traffic on the roads. It is likely that a number of location-specific printing houses, using advanced mail-printing technology, will develop across the UK.
All competition has concentrated in the B2B and business-to-consumer (B2C) mail market: The Royal Mail continues to collect, sort and deliver mail from consumers through its Post Office services. The Post Office division of The Royal Mail’s business continues to be unprofitable and, in 2007, some tough and unpopular cost-cutting measures were introduced with the start of a programme, continuing into 2008, that sees the closure of many post offices across the UK.
With strike action from Royal Mail postal workers over pay and working conditions in 2007, and threatened again in 2008, coupled with post office closures, the Royal Mail brand has received much negative publicity. However, its strength has cast it as a venerable UK institution and there are, as yet, no serious contenders to threaten its position.
Nevertheless, with full deregulation, the UK Government is committed to ensuring that the UK postal market is fully competitive, and has commissioned a review of the market and how it is regulated.
This Key Note Market Assessment report examines the market as it stands, as well as looking at how the mail markets operate on an international level, and suggesting how the market will develop in the future. Extensive research has been conducted using information from the regulatory body Postcomm, as well as individual companies and European and international information sources. Key Note also invited key industry practitioners to take part in a virtual roundtable, to elicit views from within the industry itself. Their responses can be found in Chapter 8 — Industry Dynamics — of this report.

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Improved postal service depends on open market, says ComReg

Posted by | Jun 30, 2008 | |

postal service and the provision of better value will only be achieved if An Post’s dominant position “does not foreclose” on the emergence of a fully competitive market.

The regulator’s chairman, John Doherty, said in a paper on the opening of the postal market to full competition in 2011 the challenge for postal operators is to “open the door and grasp the great opportunities” that exist.

Stating that the legal obligations on postal operators must be precise and unambiguous, he said monitoring and enforcement procedures in the market must ensure compliance on a timely basis by all operators.

Mr Doherty was commenting on the forthcoming transposition into Irish law of EU directives which will facilitate the full opening of competition in the mail market. While commercial users of the postal service can use operators other than An Post, this will in theory open the market.

ComReg wants the new legislation to set out a broad definition of the scope of the universal postal service – ie the service available to all parts of the State at all times. In that context, it said that the designation of a single universal service provider may not be appropriate in a liberalised market.

“The alternatives to designation are ‘market provision’ and ‘public procurement’. The two methods can be used in combination, with public procurement being used to fill in any gaps in market provision,” the paper said. It said licencing will be important to control entry to the market and exit from it and give assurance to users of the integrity of the operators.

“The directive continues the existing requirement that the tariffs for each universal service comply with the principles of ‘affordability’, ‘cost-orientation’, ‘nondiscrimination’ and ‘transparency’. A new requirement is that prices ‘give incentives for an efficient universal service provision’,” the paper said.

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Makeover for Central Market Post Office in Jersey

Posted by | Jun 30, 2008 | |

Jersey Post is to give the Post Office in the Central Market a complete makeover. The current facility has been open since 27th March 1972 and the current postmaster Mal Brown has decided to retire. Jersey Post will be taking the opportunity to refurbish the interior and to provide new services such as commission free foreign exchange, and a new Post and Pay self-service kiosk. All other current services will remain on offer.

John Pinel, Jersey Post Chief Executive explained: “The Central Market Post Office is an important facility for local people and has been very capably run for eleven years by Mal Brown, the current Sub Postmaster, who retires on 26 June 2008. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mal and pay tribute to her dedication and hard work. We are always looking to improve the services we offer to customers and will be taking this opportunity to give the office a complete makeover and add in a new range of services. For us at Jersey Post, it is all about bringing useful services as close to the people who use them as possible.”

The Central Market Post Office was deemed an ideal location for local people because of the high footfall in the market. It has become an important part of the local community and Mal Brown said that the Post Office also provides an important community service – if some of her regulars don’t show up she has been known to call and check if they are alright. Mal also said that she has been touched by the thank you gifts that Islanders have given her over the years ranging from farm fresh produce to honey.

The refurbishment work has been designed to cause minimal disruption; the Post Office will close on Thursday 26 June and reopen, fully operational, at the new earlier time of 08.30 on Monday 30 June. Normal postal services will be available from Broad Street and other convenient Post Offices during this period.

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Postcomm publishes proposed complaint handling regulations

Posted by | Jun 30, 2008 | |

Following consultation in January 2008 on complaint handling standards, Postcomm has published its proposed complaint handling regulations.

The key elements of the regulations are:

– a definition of complaint – a common definition provides consumers and companies with some clarity and assurance that companies are operating on the same basis, and assists with cross industry comparison. The BS ISO definition has been adapted for use by Postcomm to work within the context of the complaint handling standards regulations;
– a requirement to have a complaint handling procedure – the complaint handling standards set out the information which must be included in the complaint handling procedure but do not prescribe the specific processes or timescales to be followed;
– a requirement for complaints to be recorded on receipt and updated on any subsequent contact – this helps to address consumers’ concerns about having to repeat details more than once, provides a clear starting point for redress, and a way for licensed postal operators to identify underlying problems;
a requirement to signpost the complaint handling procedure – to ensure a consumer is aware of the complaint handling procedure when they make subsequent contact to the licensed postal operator indicating their complaint is not complete;
– a requirement to deal with consumer complaints in an efficient and timely manner
– a requirement to signpost consumers to the redress scheme – a requirement to have appropriate arrangements in place with the new NCC for any complaint referrals; and
– a requirement to publish complaints data – licensed postal operators must publish specific complaints data annually . Postcomm will review these annual reports and will formally review the regulations in 2010/2011.

The consultation will be open for four weeks and will close on 31 July 2008.

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Post Office card Account (POCA)

Posted by | Jun 30, 2008 | |

The Counters Advisory Group (CAG), a group of organisations committed to promoting the needs of post office customers, chaired by Postwatch, has written today to James Purnell, the Work and Pensions Secretary to support Post Office Ltd being awarded the contract for the replacement of the POCA. The group feels very strongly that customers who want to collect their pensions and benefits from their post office should continue be free to do so.

It is also clear to the group’s members that failure to award the contract to Post Office Ltd would have a significant impact on the number of post offices that would remain in business.

The full text of the letter can be viewed at www.postwatch.co.uk

Notes To editors

1. CAG is chaired by Elizabeth Hodder.

2. The following organisations are members of CAG:

Age Concern England;

Citizens Advice;

Commission for Rural Communities;

Federation of Small Businesses;

Help the Aged;

Local Government Association;

National Association of Local Councils;

National Consumer Council;

National Federation of SubPostmasters;

National Federation of Women’s Institutes;

Postcomm;

Public Utilities Access Forum;

Rural Shops Alliance;

Royal National Institute of Blind People;

Townswomen’s Guild; and the

Village Retail Services Association.

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