Tag: Europe

MRS Distribution joins PalletFORCE

Posted by | May 14, 2007 | |

The West Lothian depot of transport company MRS Distribution Ltd has joined PalletFORCE, one of the country’s fastest growing palletised distribution networks, in the long-term interests of the company and its customers.

This is the first time that MRS has been part of a network, a decision driven by business development needs. “Sustainable business from Scotland is hard to find,” explains Commercial Director Ian Wilson, “and we needed a route to get our customers’ smaller consignments into England. Joining a network was the obvious answer.”

MRS Distribution was founded in 1975 and became a limited company in 1983. The company has 350 employees based at 13 locations across the UK.

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Postbank growth continues

Posted by | May 14, 2007 | |

In the first quarter of 2007, Deutsche Postbank AG improved further. Despite fiercer competition, it generated a pre-tax profit of EUR222 million, 7.2% up year-on-year. Adjusted for one-off costs, e.g. from the integration of BHW and VAT increase, the pre-tax profit rose by 13.9% to EUR246 million. The cost-income ratio improved by 1.8 percentage points to 69.4% against the comparative quarter in 2006. In the classical banking business, i.e. without Transaction Banking, the ratio declined by as much as 2.5 percentage points to 67.3%. The return on equity before tax rose from 16.1% to 17.0%. In the first three months, the Postbank Group gained more than 260,000 new customers, 17,000 more than in the first quarter of the previous year. It is thus on track to reach its objective of a million new customers in 2007.

The balance-sheet related revenues (net interest income, net trading income and net income from investment securities) moved up by 4.0% to EUR674 million in comparison to the equivalent quarter in the previous year. Net interest income rose by 5.2% to EUR543 million. Net trading income and net income from investment securities at EUR61 million and EUR70 million respectively remained stable against the equivalent quarter of the previous year.

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Lifeline for post offices threatened with closure

Posted by | May 13, 2007 | |

When the elderly postmistress in the Kent village of Sutton Valence decided to sell up in 1986, Gary Coyle was probably not on her list of target buyers.

Having left a tough comprehensive school in Northampton at the age of 15 without any qualifications, he became a chef and began an extraordinary journey. It took him from the Queen Eleanor hotel in Northampton to a head chef at the Mark Warner company, cooking at the exclusive ski resorts of Verbier and Meribel.

But after catering, he became attracted to the mail business when the village post office went up for sale near to the home of his in-laws. That was more than 20 years ago. He has never looked back, but many other postmasters have not found the going so easy.

As the only shop in the village, his business is thriving, but other rural post offices are not so lucky. About 2,500 are under threat of closure and Coyle is now leading a mission to save them.

He is aware that it will not be an easy task. The 14,200-strong post-office network loses about Pounds 4m a week and is propped up only by government subsidy.

Post offices that make money tend to be the larger ones in busy urban areas.

Coyle has tried a post-office initiative before, and failed – the Postmasternetwork that aimed to boost the average income of a sub-postmaster by Pounds 5,000 a year by finding new revenue streams. When he pulled the plug on the operation in January, he cleared all its debts, but lost Pounds 100,000 of his own cash in the process. That venture was backed by high-profile City figures, who prefer not to divulge their identities.

Coyle remains undeterred. He has now teamed up with Mail Boxes Etc, part of United Parcel Service (UPS), the international courier-services giant, in a plan to set up new post-office franchises under the Mail Boxes name.

Mail Boxes already has 105 post offices in the UK and Ireland but is desperate to expand. Coyle is leading the initiative on their behalf and being paid a retainer.

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Post chief in GBP 1.2bn threat

Posted by | May 13, 2007 | |

Royal Mail is threatening to freeze GBP 1.2bn in crucial investments if its employees vote next month for a national strike.

Faced by a rapidly shrinking market and growing competition, the postal service is determined to end antiquated working practices.

But an all-out strike, the first for ten years, would have a devastating effect by further boosting competition from private companies that are soon expected to handle one in five letters and parcels.

The confrontation comes as Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling confirms plans to close 2,500 small post offices.

The postal workers’ union has already rejected a pay offer of 2.5% or a GBP 600 lump sum payment for the year and is instead demanding a 27% rise and a shorter working week. Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier says he will not go ahead with the company’s five-year investment plan agreed in February unless 130,000 workers agree to management’s ‘final’ offer, which is conditional on changes in working practices.

This means that giant sophisticated sorting machines, which offer the key to major productivity gains, will not be put into main sorting offices.

Even if the unions agree to the package, about 40,000 jobs are expected to go during the upgrades. Royal Mail warns more jobs could be lost after a prolonged dispute.

The company is prepared to announce a sharp drop in its annual operating profits for the year ending March 31 compared with profits of GBP 355m the year before. In the past half-year, profits slumped 86% to GBP 22m.

The Communications Workers Union will start balloting members this week and the result is expected to be announced on June 7.

Royal Mail believes winning this battle is vital to its survival. It sees changes in working conditions as essential, particularly ending early-morning shifts, traditionally starting before 6am, when workers are given an allowance but there is no mail to sort.

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Axe falls on thousands of post offices

Posted by | May 13, 2007 | |

The government will this week announce the closure of 2,500 post offices across the country as part of plans to stem losses of GBP 4m a week across the 14,000 strong network.

Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling will release the government’s response to a six-month consultation on the network, indicating where offices will be lost and what measures will be taken to support those that are left.
At the same time, the Communication Workers Union is preparing to launch a ballot for strike action across its 140,000 membership at Royal Mail in a dispute over pay. The union plans to issue notification of the ballot on Tuesday if talks with Royal Mail on the current 2.5 per cent offer on Monday fail to reach a breakthrough.

There are also plans for a ballot among staff at main Crown post offices over plans to move 85 offices into WH Smith stores, while members at Post Office Cash Services, the division that handles and transports money from branches, are threatening a ballot over pay as well. A union source said there could be strikes across the mail and postal sector.

A spokesman for the National Federation of Sub Postmasters said half the government closures were expected in rural areas and half in towns and cities.
The government has indicated that if the post office network were a purely commercial organisation, it would run only 4,000 branches. However, it accepts that it also has a social role.

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