Royal Mail has snapped up a 17% share in Moving Technologies, a supplier of address change technology. As part of the deal Royal Mail has signed up to launch a new online change of address service. Over 800 companies are signed up to the service, including the main utility providers, banks and supermarkets, a number expected to grow to over 2,000. It is estimated that over 11m home-movers could benefit from using the service each year.
Read MoreRoyal Mail today welcomed Postcomm’s decision to allow it to make alterations to its Standard Parcel service. From 1 April 2004, Royal Mail will withdraw the delivery of Standard Parcels weighing more than 20kgs – a service historically provided, although not required under the terms of the Universal Service Obligation within the Postal Services Act. Royal Mail’s network is not designed for handling items weighing more than 20kgs, which account for less than one per cent of the four-and-a-half million Standard Parcels it delivers each year.
Royal Mail’s current charge for handling Standard Parcels weighing between 20kg and 30kgs is GBP10.76. The real cost of providing the higher weight delivery is between GBP22 and GBP36, depending on a variety of factors including the destination, resulting in an annual loss on the service of around £1 million.
La Poste, the French post office, last night received government approval for a limited expansion into financial services despite vigorous lobbying by French banks opposed to the move, French business paper Les Echos reports.
Nicole Fontaine, the industry minister, said La Poste would be authorised to begin offering mortgages to individuals buying homes, without the need to set up a savings plan, from 2005. However, requests by La Poste to begin offering disaster insurance and consumer credit were rejected by the government. Its application to enter the consumer credit market will be reviewed again in 2006.
Read MoreThe Royal Mail was given permission today to withdraw a service delivering heavy parcels which loses the company £1 million a year.
Parcels weighing between 20kg (46lbs) and 30kg (66lbs) were delivered for £10.76, but the Royal Mail said the actual cost was between £22 and £36, depending on the destination. Around 45,000 of the parcels were delivered every year, less than 1% of the 4.5 million handled by the Royal Mail.
The service will be withdrawn next April.
Read MoreFollowing consultation, Postcomm on 21 October issued an approval under Royal Mail’s licence to enable the company to make changes to two of its services – Special Delivery and Standard Parcels. The changes will enable Royal Mail to integrate Special Delivery into its proposed single daily delivery, and allow it to withdraw from the service of carrying heavier parcels.
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