Tag: Europe

Postcomm agree to Royal Mail request

Posted by | Jun 26, 2007 | |

Postcomm has agreed to Royal Mail’s request to suspend until the end of its current financial year the payment of compensation to bulk mail customers, and to ensure that the company is not subject to a downward adjustment to its allowed revenues (known as the ‘C factor’), where industrial action has taken place and quality of service figures have dropped.

The reason for this decision is that Postcomm wishes to ensure that – against a background of Royal Mail’s current financial position, including its substantial pension deficit – the possibility of having to pay compensation and/or earning reduced revenue next year does not discourage the company from taking the steps needed to modernise its business, which will be to the benefit of all mail users.

Postcomm’s agreement to these suspensions is subject to some important safeguards for customers:

-A final decision on the amount of any relief will not be made until after the end of this financial year (31 March 2008) when Royal Mail’s final quality of service figures will be known. In making its decision at that point, Postcomm will expect Royal Mail to be able to demonstrate that the industrial action (a)arose as a result of carrying out its transformation plans and not for some other reason, and (b) had a direct causal link to quality of service failures.

-After the end of the financial year, Postcomm will convene an open meeting at which Royal Mail will present the main points in its application. Participants will be able to ask for further explanation of the justification for agreement by Postcomm to Royal Mail’s request.

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Palletways extends palletized freight services into Switzerland

Posted by | Jun 26, 2007 | |

Palletways, Europe’s largest provider of express distribution services for small consignments of palletized freight, has appointed its member in Switzerland as part of the expansion of its Central European Network which also covers the Benelux countries, Germany, Denmark and northern France.

Palletways will provide a 48/72-hour distribution service to and from the regions covered by the Central European Network.

Palletways Central European Network is the company’s second pallet operation in mainland Europe. The company also provides express distribution services for small consignments of freight carried on pallets across Italy and is soon to establish an operation covering Spain and Portugal.

Adam Shuter, European Development Director at Palletways, said:

“The expansion of the CEN into Switzerland is part of our long-term aim to create the first pan-European pallet network. The development will open up the Swiss market to manufacturers and suppliers of goods across the countries in which we operate and provide them with a quicker and more costs effective route from/into Switzerland than ever before. It will also allow producers and suppliers of goods in Switzerland to access a major marketplace across Central Europe.”

Palletways Central European Network now has 30 members and more will be recruited to enable future growth.

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TomTom and Vodafone UK To Introduce the World’s Most Advanced Travel Time Information System for Superior Navigation in the UK

Posted by | Jun 26, 2007 | |

TomTom, the world’s largest navigation solutions provider, and Vodafone UK today announce that they will jointly develop a new traffic information system that will deliver superior travel time information.

This exclusive agreement will see TomTom’s in-house patented technology use information from the Vodafone UK network to provide accurate, real-time information on the speed and direction of cars travelling on all major roads across the UK. As a result customers will have a better understanding of the exact traffic situation and be able to plan and change their route instantly to avoid traffic congestion.

Details of the service will be made available at launch which is expected to be in the first half of 2008. All current and future TomTom users will be able to benefit from the service, once it is available. The solution will also be available for road authorities and businesses, who may use it for dynamic traffic control measures and improved fleet management.

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UK regulator must balance competition and obligation

Posted by | Jun 26, 2007 | |

Postcomm, the regulator created in 2000 to oversee the postal market’s opening up to competition, has two tasks to balance.

The first is to develop a competitive market and ensure that Royal Mail, the former monopoly, does not stifle rivals. The second is to preserve the universal service obligation, allowing anyone in the UK to post letters and parcels to any other part of the country at the same affordable rates.

So far, it has managed to meet both these targets.

Postcomm’s strategy re-view, set up last summer, is examining policy options and is expected to publish its preliminary thoughts within a few weeks.

These will include whether it should require the separation of Royal Mail’s retail arm, which collects and sorts post, from the wholesale operation that delivers the mail for it and other postal operators.

It is also asking whether changes are needed to the universal service obligation, which covers more than half the post – including much of the bulk mail sent by business users.

This guarantees daily delivery of mail for every UK household and business, six days a week, and one collection per day, every day except Sunday.

Royal Mail has already requested a change in its licence in order to limit the obligation to stamped mail, which is about 10 per cent of the total, saying the present rules hinder its ability to compete with private sector operators.

Sarah Chambers, Postcomm’s chief executive, appeared sympathetic to the request in her address to Institute of Economic Affairs conference on the future of the postal services.

The strategic review is considering reducing the number of products covered by the obligation as growing competition begins to increase the choices available to users.

She said Postcomm was exploring reducing the obligation to deliver to the front door six days a week. Such changes would require amendments to the Postal Services Act, which opened the mail to competition.

The European Union directive on postal services specifies that countries should maintain a universal service every working day, but other European countries have limited their coverage to Monday-to-Friday.

Ms Chambers told the conference that lifting the requirement to deliver on Saturday would not stop weekend deliveries, while retaining it could fetter the development of better services – including, possibly, Sunday deliveries by some mail companies.

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Small pay increase for transport and logistics managers

Posted by | Jun 26, 2007 | |

Transport and logistics managers in Britain received the lowest pay increases of any sector last year, with an average rise of just 2.6 per cent, new figures reveal.

The survey of managers in Britain found that the country is facing an ‘executive recruitment crisis’, that places the growth prospects of businesses at risk.

According to the Chartered Management Institute, the number of managers in the UK choosing to quit their jobs to seek alternative employment rose by 50 per cent last year.

The report on an annual poll of 42,000 managers claims that low wage rises are to blame for poor management retention rates at UK companies, with 81 per cent of firms reporting problems with recruitment.

Jo Causon, Chartered Management Institute director of marketing and corporate affairs, said: “The steep climb in organisations reporting recruitment difficulties, mixed with an increasing number of resignations should be ringing alarm bells for employers.”

Average earnings across all sectors rose by 5.3 per cent over the past 12 months to GBP 47,449, down from 5.7 per cent the previous year and the lowest pay rise in Britain since 1996.

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