Tag: Europe

Lovells helps complete UK Royal Mail WH Smith deal

Posted by | May 6, 2007 | |

A team from Lovells has worked alongside Royal Mail’s in-house legal team to complete a major transaction for Royal Mail transferring the operation of 76 Post Office branches to WHSmith. This follows the successful trial of six Post Offices in WHSmith stores last year.

Following the deal the Post Office will continue to run 373 Crown Post Offices in UK towns and cities alongside the branches operated by WHSmith.

The Lovells team working on the transaction was led by partner Nicholas Cheffings with associates Sahira Khwaja and India Forsyth. The Royal Mail in-house team was led by General Counsel Doug Evans with assistants Jessica Madron and Patricia Jones.

Speaking afterwards, Doug Evans commented:

“This is a very important development for the Royal Mail Group, serving to underpin the Post Office’s long-term commitment to safeguard its presence on the high street and in shopping centres across the United Kingdom.

“We have worked very closely with Lovells on this transaction and are extremely pleased with the advice they have given us. The deal enables us to work with a complementary, respected retailer giving us, and our customers, a high quality, commercially viable plan for the future.”

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Royal Mail are on course for a crippling national strike over pay

Posted by | May 5, 2007 | |

Royal Mail are on course for a crippling national strike over pay.

Union leaders are expected to reject a new offer from management next week and press ahead with plans for a ballot.

Last week, a union memo said bosses were offering a one-off sum of GBP 550 in return for agreement on cuts to services worth GBP 350million a year.

Now Royal Mail have backed down and offered a 2.5 per cent rise in pay.

But the Communication Workers Union leadership are set to reject the deal – worth GBP 7.75 a week before tax.

They argue that, with inflation at 4.8 per cent, the offer is a pay cut in real terms.

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WHSmith and Post Office a perfect match

Posted by | May 4, 2007 | |

The solution to the dire state of the UK’s town centre Post Offices is to fully merge them into WHSmith. The idea of switching 70 Crown Office branches to the high street chain, but leaving 373 to fend for themselves makes no sense.

Without a clearer strategy and better management, the money spent refurbishing these outlets will be wasted.

Transferring 15 outlets to different retail partners makes no sense. It will confuse customers and erode the natural synergies that exist. It is like finding your natural partner in life and then playing away when their back is turned.

When an ugly man marries a plain woman, the result is rarely a beautiful child. That said, WHSmith has been performing better of late. While I am still never quite sure what merchandise mix to expect when I go into a store, there is a sense that it is getting there under chief executive Kate Swann.

Unfortunately, I know exactly what to expect when I go into a high street Post Office. What upsets me most is the huge wasted retail opportunity; bare walls, unkempt ambience and demotivated staff. What most upsets customers are the lengthy, snake-like queues.

Someone once told me that the Post Office is headed by a renowned and capable retailer. They were mistaken. With one of the richest asset bases and strongest brands in the UK, the counters business lost GBP 111 million last year on sales down 14 per cent to GBP 838 million. Management whinge that they would have been profitable had it not been for the cost of carrying the uneconomic part of the rural network.

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Experian acquires French email marketing services company

Posted by | May 4, 2007 | |

Experian has acquired French email marketing services company Emailing Solution for an undisclosed sum.

Emailing Solution provides email development, delivery and management services, as well as hosting and managing email address databases. The company employs 50 people, of which six are based in Barcelona, and has more than 300 clients including Axa, Orange, Staples and HP.

The acquisition expands Experian Marketing Solutions’ range of services in France beyond address management.

Experian will integrate the company into its own email marketing services business Cheetahmail, which already operates in the UK, US, Ireland and the Netherlands.

Chris Savage, managing director of Experian’s data integrity and digital services business, said: “Emailing Solutions complements CheetahMail’s European presence and will help drive our development in permission-based email marketing in the French market.”

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Austrian Post acquires a 74.9% shareholding in Scherübl Transport GmbH

Posted by | May 4, 2007 | |

Scherübl is an Austrian SME with annual revenues of about EUR 3.5m. The firm has earned an excellent reputation in the industry as a specialist for the temperature-controlled delivery of pharmaceutical products, featuring advanced technical know-how and the highest standards. Almost all prominent pharmaceutical companies are customers of Scherübl. One important service it offers is the cooled transport of pharmaceuticals, i.e. ensuring a continuous cold chain ranging between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius, with uninterrupted temperature monitoring and recording throughout the entire delivery process.

Through its acquisition of a majority shareholding of Scherübl, and the takeover of Thermomed by the trans-o-flex Group, Austrian Post is now represented in the specialised pharmaceutical logistics market in Germany, Austria and the Benelux countries, a niche market with high growth potential.

Austrian Post will strengthen the good market position of Scherübl by newly establishing a network consisting of four pharmaceutical distribution centres in Austria featuring the required infrastructure (e.g. temperature-controlled storage, special cooled containers and temperature documentation). The distribution centres will be set up in Regau (Upper Austria), Hall (Tyrol), Kalsdorf (Styria) and in Vienna by the end of this year.

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