Tag: Europe

Christmas cards boost bottom line for UK businesses

Posted by | Dec 22, 2006 | |

Small and medium sized businesses up and down the country are set to increase their New Year profits by GBP257 million as a result of sending their customers Christmas Cards over the festive season.

According to the Royal Mail research launched today, bottom line profits of businesses are set to increase by 2.1 per cent as a result of sending Christmas card mailers – a return on investment of 3,213 per cent – with the average company spending just GBP200.

Businesses are realising the value of sending Christmas cards, with a third convinced they help to build and maintain customer relationships, and six in ten believing that they give them a competitive edge.

Alex Batchelor, Royal Mail’s Marketing Director, said: “This research shows that as a sales and marketing tool, the humble Christmas card provides a huge return on investment.

Royal Mail’s festive postbag this year of two billion items includes 750 million Christmas cards.

Read More

UK Post office closure is branded shortsighted

Posted by | Dec 22, 2006 | |

The West Surrey branch of the Federation of Small Business (FSB) has added its voice to the mounting furore over the decision to close 2,500 post offices across the UK.

The organisation which looks after the interests of small businesses has cited that 82% of small firms believe the closure of their local post office would adversely affect them.

While accepting that many sub-post offices are loss making, it has argued that the social need must be put before profit.

A total of 88% of small firms send mail every day, 69% send invoices through the post and 94% of small firms use Royal Mail exclusively.

And with small businesses employing twelve million people the potential for this decision to have a negative knock-on effect on the economy is considerable claims the group.

Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Alistair Darling made the announcement to the House of Commons last week that some post offices will close as early as summer 2007 as part of the cost-cutting move, branded short-sighted by the federation.

Read More

Europe's largest UHF EPC (European Product Code) Project

Posted by | Dec 20, 2006 | |

In Europe, the Spanish Post Office “Correos” has implemented what they say is Europe’s largest UHF RFID system for any sector. Correos ships 25 million articles every day, utilizing 30,000 boxes and 11,500 vehicles.
The RFID implementation uses 332 UHF Gen2 readers and 1,992 reader antennas supplied by Symbol Technologies. These are installed in sorting centers in 16 cities across Spain. Some 5,000 passive RFID tags are employed, which are reused. A tag is inserted into an envelope and sent as any other piece of mail through the system. The readers throughout the postal system read the tags, such as when they first enter the sorting center; when they are taken to the automation room; and when they are dispatched. The RFID system monitors the movement of the letters and logs the performance of the postal system in real time. At any one time thousands of tags are in the mail supply chain, each building up a picture of the performance of the postal system. This allows Correos to quickly detect bottlenecks or delays and tackle these. As tags are received at different addresses they are sent back again to another address to monitor the mail flow. The central server which is in Madrid also monitors the reader network through the country to ensure that each reader is operating correctly. The passive tags cost less than 30 Euro cents each and weigh a few grams.

Read More

TNT welcomes the inclusion of Bulgaria and Romania in the EU

Posted by | Dec 20, 2006 | |

TNT announced that it has invested significantly in Bulgaria and Romania in order to capitalize on the expansion of the EU in January 2007. Investments in new line haul connections and depots will enable TNT Express to benefit from the increase of trade between the existing EU countries and Bulgaria and Romania.

In Bulgaria, TNT Express has developed new domestic line hauls which allow offering same day export from the South-Eastern Bulgaria region as well as Central, Northern and North-Western Bulgaria. For 2007, it is planned to further develop the North Bulgaria line haul to enable same day export for the North-Eastern Bulgaria region as well.

In Romania, TNT Express is well equipped to gain from the increased trade between the EU countries. TNT has developed the largest network in Romania with three international depots in Otopeni, Timisoara and Cluj-Napoca. Investments have focused on improvement of the infrastructure and the line haul network. Transit times have been reduced from two days to one, for documents and parcels, import and exports, between Romania and all EU countries.

Read More

FedEx contract loss means Business Post shares struggle

Posted by | Dec 20, 2006 | |

Business Post shares suffered yesterday when US logistics giant FedEx confirmed it was scrapping a major contract with the company, which has a hub in Birmingham.

The move follows FedEx’s pounds 120 million acquisition of ANC Holdings, a major rival to Business Post in the UK.

Business Post’s shares retreated 32 1/4 ViTp to 429 3/4 p in early trading but later recovered some lost ground to close 17 1/4 p down at 444 1/2 p, a loss of 3.7 per cent. FedEx said it intended to terminate Business Post’s contract as “Global Service Participant” in the UK, a contract that accounts for about six per cent of the company’s turnover.

Given the operational gearing of the contract, the impact on earnings is likely to be slightly higher, City analysts believe.

Broker Altium has, however, maintained its earnings estimate for the time being.

But it has cut its long-term target price for the stock from 450p to 425p, while Teather & Greenwood downgraded shares from “buy” to “sell”.

Business Post said in a Stock Exchange statement that it expected the FedEx contract, which only came into effect in September this year, to end in September 2007.

Read More

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

P&P Poll

Loading

What's the future of the postal USO?

Thank you for voting
You have already voted on this poll!
Please select an option!



View ResultsHide Results

Post & Parcel Magazine


Post & Parcel Magazine is our print publication, released 3 times a year. Packed with original content and thought-provoking features, Post & Parcel Magazine is a must-read for those who want the inside track on the industry.

Subscribe to the Magazine

 

Pin It on Pinterest