Tag: Europe

Post Office increases Instant Saver bonus rate

Posted by | Apr 8, 2008 | |

The Post Office today announces it is increasing the bonus rate on its Instant Saver account to 1.5 pct with immediate effect.

For a limited period, new customers applying for an Instant Saver account will receive 6 pct AER on balances of more than GBP 500. The introductory bonus is paid on deposits for 12 months from the date the account was opened, after which interest is earned at the standard rate – currently 4.5 pct.

Richard Norman, director of savings at the Post Office, said: “The savings market has changed dramatically in the last six months and in order for the Post Office to continue offering great value in an increasingly competitive market, we have decided to increase the bonus rate.

“This promotional offer will be reviewed on a monthly basis, to ensure that it continues to meet our customers’ expectations and keep us in line with the rest of the market.”

Post Office Instant Saver is available at all of the UK’s 14,000 Post Office branches, by telephone and online. Withdrawals can be made over the counter at branches and via 60,000 Link ATMs, offering unrivalled choice and convenience.

It also offer two unique guarantees – to pass on all base rate rises in full until January 2010 and to remain within 1.0 pct of the Bank of England base rate for the life of the account. Savers can make six free withdrawals a year with a flat fee of just GBP 1 for any future withdrawals.

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TNT Post to offer 3pct structural wage increase (UK)

Posted by | Apr 8, 2008 | |

During negotiations between the trade unions and TNT Post yesterday on a revised collective labour agreement as one of the means of bringing the employment package at the postal company in line with the market, TNT Post offered a structural wage increase of 3pct.

The offer comprises a 1.5pct salary rise with retroactive effect to 1 April 2008, and a further 1.5pct on 1 January 2009. The latter is conditional on the elaboration and implementation of a plan, put forward by a joint working group with representatives from the trade unions and TNT Post, to make fundamental changes to the conditions of employment.

TNT Post and the unions have now been in discussions for a year. In April 2007, TNT Post provided more details on the necessity of achieving an additional 300 million euros in cost savings above those already being generated by earlier plans. These cost savings cannot be achieved through operational efficiency measures alone; the conditions of employment also have to be brought more in line with the market, and additional assisted reemployment measures are required as well to limit job loss. Depending on the chosen solution, between 6,500 and 11,000 employees would be affected.

The trade unions have nonetheless rejected the offer made by TNT and have announced actions. TNT is considering the present situation, but remains firm on the necessity of implementing considerable further cost savings at TNT Post, in line with that which was previously announced. In the period 2007 to 2015, TNT Post wants to achieve a total of 395 million euros annually in cost savings. A considerable portion of this must be achieved through bringing the conditions of employment in line with the market.

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Successful start to DPD's Parcel-Shop offensive (GER)

Posted by | Apr 8, 2008 | |

DPD is continuing the successful Parcel-Shop offensive which it began last year. There are now no less than 3,000 Parcel-Shops in Germany, with a further 1,500 expected to follow by the end of the year. Small companies and private shippers, in particular, benefit from the products and service options available from the DPD Parcel-Shops.

“At the start of last year there were 472 DPD Parcel-Shops in Germany. By the end of the year this number had risen to almost 2,500,” states Arnold Schroven, Chief Executive Officer of DPD GmbH & Co. KG. The CEO is pleased because this represents a five-fold increase in shop numbers within a single year. “This success confirms our policy of continuing our offensive strategy on this segment of the market this year, too. We intend to provide our customers with a country-wide network of 4,500 Parcel-Shops by the end of 2008.”

DPD Parcel-Shops operate on the shop-in-shop principle and are located across various branches of the retail sector, including for example stationery shops, tanning studios and consumer electronics shops. The focus is always on the interests of the customer, which means the retail outlets are those frequented regularly by consumers and where handing in or collecting a parcel can be conveniently combined with other activities. Prestigious retailing multiples such as Metro and the Staples office-supply chain are partners to DPD Parcel-Shops.

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Arcandor Sees Russia Becoming Top Mail-Order Market

Posted by | Apr 8, 2008 | |

Arcandor AG, the owner of Karstadt department stores and the Quelle catalog company, said Russia may become its largest overseas mail-order market next year as sales surge in the country.

The retailer’s annual sales in Russia may reach 1 billion euros (USD 1.58 billion) in 2013, said Marc Sommer, the head of Arcandor’s Primondo mail-order unit. Primondo’s Russian sales may rise 57 percent to USD 180 million this year and will increase by about 60 percent annually through 2010, he added.

“The mail-order market is undergoing a boom in Russia,” Sommer said today at a press conference in Moscow. “People begin to realize how convenient it is to order by catalog and get goods delivered to your home.”

Arcandor’s Russian mail-order sales have more than doubled annually since it entered the market with Quelle in 2005. Russia’s apparel and footwear market will increase by 16 percent to 37 billion euros this year and may reach 55 billion euros in 2011, Sommer said today at a company presentation.

“People are buying European fashion very eagerly,” Sommer said. Rising incomes in Russia, the world’s biggest energy supplier, fuel consumer spending and lure international companies such as Inditex SA, Europe’s largest clothing retailer, and Stockmann Oyj, a Finnish department-store company. Hennes & Mauritz AB plans first Russian stores in 2009.

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TNT Express and ORTEC sign strategic global contract on network optimisation

Posted by | Apr 8, 2008 | |

TNT Express has signed a strategic global contract to optimise TNT Express’ global infrastructure and networks through the provision of and access to ORTEC’s state-of-the-art optimisation knowledge and solutions. Together, ORTEC and TNT will seek to optimise network solutions as part of the Global Optimisation (GO) programme to further enable the standardisation of TNT’s infrastructure on a global scale, as well as enhance the operational transformation and integration of TNT’s newly acquired companies in Spain, Brazil, India and China. The solutions will also include carbon footprint calculations for improving sustainability and reducing carbon emissions – an essential component of TNT’s Planet Me programme.

‘Network optimisation is critically important to TNT in achieving our strategic focus and aspirations,’ says Mark Bradley, Global Operations Director of TNT Express. ‘Already, initial results of the partnership are most promising. ORTEC solutions have already been introduced in several countries around the world and delivered significant unit cost optimisation and service improvements in all functional areas of operations.’

The GO-Toolbox consists of several ORTEC solutions, each of which contains advanced optimisation techniques. The solutions are specially tuned to optimise each of the components of the TNT Express supply chain – from line haul networks, hubs and country infrastructure to pick ups and deliveries. The solutions can either be used individually or as part of an integral programme of activities, leading to network wide optimisation possibilities.

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