Tag: Europe

Post strike could cost Royal Mail GBP 300m

Posted by | Jun 3, 2007 | |

Royal Mail has privately warned that a national postal strike could cost up to GBP 300m in penalty payments and lost income, according to senior industry figures.

Royal Mail executives have made the claim to a group representing major business users, while indicating similar consequences to industry regulators.

As the Communication Workers Union prepares to announce on Thursday the results of a national strike ballot over pay, conditions and a potential restructuring of the business, Royal Mail has drawn up contingency plans that include drafting in up to 7,000 managers.

The CWU is confident that its 130,000 membership will vote in favour of the first national strike in 11 years, pointing to independent polls which indicate that 65 per cent will say yes to action.

Earlier this month Royal Mail asked Postcomm, its regulator, to make an exception in the case of industrial action to regulations governing penalty payments if service standards fall. At present a strike is not considered ‘force majeure’ under the regulations, and if there is a stoppage, Royal Mail can be penalised.

This can happen in several ways: a compensation scheme for businesses which reduces Royal Mail’s future revenues, a quality benchmark that it must meet or trigger penalties – known as the ‘C factor’ – and direct fines from Postcomm. Royal Mail believes the first two measures could cost it up to GBP 300m in the event of protracted strikes, and on 2 May asked the regulator to waive them for two years.

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Deutsche Post calls on partner companies to cut costs

Posted by | Jun 3, 2007 | |

Deutsche Post AG is calling on its partner companies to take part in a pilot savings scheme in a bid to cut costs by up to 15 pct, reported Thomson Financial News partner dpa-AFX.

One partner firm has since announced plans to end its contract with Deutsche Post, reported dpa-AFX.

The pilot scheme, which was agreed with trade union Ver.di, affects around one tenth of Deutsche Post’s delivery areas, added the report.

‘We have spoken to the companies and shown them where money could be saved,’ reported German newspaper Die Welt am Sonntag, citing a company spokesman.

Deutsche Post hopes its partners will cut costs by either reducing wages for drivers, or by placing an increased number of packages for delivery into trucks, added Welt am Sonntag.

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Later delivery plan for UK post

Posted by | Jun 2, 2007 | |

Postal deliveries could be pushed back to a 10.30am start time following a major overhaul of working practices by Royal Mail.

Residents and businesses across Lancashire could face later deliveries after Royal Mail announced they were looking at a more efficient way of working.

Unions chiefs have hit out at the change and said it could bring chaos to the delivery service.

The news follows initial moves at the Leyland sorting office where postmen were informed they could not leave for their rounds until after 10am.

Royal Mail said the move had been prompted by a desire to make postal workers spend more time in the sorting office before they start deliveries.

They said the change would allow more efficiency in sorting the next day’s post.

The changes are to be rolled out at sorting offices across Lancashire and the rest of the UK but Royal Mail claim it would not result in deliveries stretching in to late afternoon.

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La Poste chooses Orange Business Talk

Posted by | Jun 2, 2007 | |

Orange Business Services has deployed its Business Talk service for the French post office’s technical assistance staff. La Poste technicians and experts of the mail technical department now benefit from two-in-one service, with a single number for fixed and mobile, a unified voice message system and preferential rates for all business calls from a fixed or mobile handset. The post office technicians receive between 65 and 80 calls per day, often while outside the office, and were hard to contact before the change. Some 20 percent of technical support calls went unanswered immediately. Over 2,000 companies currently use Business Talk.

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Marketers still ignorant on Pricing in Proportion

Posted by | Jun 1, 2007 | |

More than a fifth of senior marketing executives and print managers have never even heard of Royal Mail’s Pricing in Proportion (PiP) system, almost a year after it was first introduced, according to a study.

The survey, published by financial and business advisor Grant Thornton, reveals that many companies may be losing out by not taking PiP into consideration.

The changes were introduced in August of last year, yet of the 80 per cent who were aware of the changes, only 60 per cent have assessed the cost implications to their business.

Daniel Smith, print industry expert at Grant Thornton, says: “As Royal Mail’s price changes are fully digested there will be plenty of corporates looking at ways to cut their overall postage costs.”

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