Tag: Mail Services

Royal Mail 'burdened by over regulation' (UK)

Posted by | Jun 23, 2008 | |

Speaking on Jeff Randall Live, Adam Crozier said he would welcome tougher competition, but he called for less control – saying the current system is untenable.

He added: “The way the market is regulated has to change. The way the market is being regulated is not benefiting customers.”

Talking about the challenges facing the Royal Mail, he said: “We still face some huge risks.

“We have a declining market because people change the way they communicate and we have a huge pension deficit.”

Earlier this year an independent review into Royal Mail described its business model as unsustainable.

Adam Crozier maintained his commitment to running a commercial business with a social heart.

He said the universal service – the one price goes anywhere service – remained a key part of the Royal Mail.

“It remains the backbone of all the economic and social cohesion of the country. If that doesn’t work the whole thing falls about,” he stressed.

But he warned that the universal service was losing money and the current regulation system was not working and had to be changed.

There could also be more job cuts for Royal Mail staff.

In the last few years, 50,000 staff have been laid off and Crozier said there would be more substantial cuts as machines replace people.

“It’s all designed to improve the quality of service for our customers – both social and business.”

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Royal Mail Group raise over GBP 1 Million Pounds (UK)

Posted by | Jun 23, 2008 | |

In 2005, the Royal Mail Group signed a three-year campaign agreement with Help the Hospices, which was the company’s first national charity partnership. The fundraising target was GBP 1m.
Royal Mail Group offices, mail centres, Post Offices and Parcelforce depots raised funds for hospices in their local communities. About 300 community coordinators were recruited from all parts of the company to organise events such as bike rides from London to Paris and Land’s End to John O’Groats, bring-and-buy sales and local cake bakes. The group also raised funds by sponsoring the Help the Hospices team in the 2006 London Marathon and encouraging more staff to enter its Payroll Giving scheme. Royal Mail Group matched the amount raised by staff with two donations of GBP 250,000.
The company also launched a series of national fundraising projects, including a Help the Hospices stamp, the first ever to carry a charity message. A book of photographs taken by postmen and women on their rounds was published, with the proceeds going to the charity, and novelty marketing items such as reindeer food and Christmas angels were sold in Post Offices. Customers were also encouraged to donate leftover travel currency at foreign exchange counters.
The campaign raised GBP 1,966,000, almost double the original fundraising target. The number of Royal Mail group staff donating to the charity through Payroll Giving increased by more than 1,200 per cent.
This partnership is a winner for both parties: the company is committed to making a difference to the communities and also supports a national cause that touches the majority of its customers, and the charity raises both its profile and much-needed funds.

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Brussels gets tough on postal markets

Posted by | Jun 23, 2008 | |

Brussels will on Tuesday attempt to prevent backsliding by EU countries over reform of domestic postal markets, warning that practical barriers to competition as well as legal monopolies need to be removed.

European Commission officials are expected to tell a high-level conference – involving two commissioners and several ministers – that countries need to be proactive about changing practices in their postal markets or risk facing infringement actions.

Unusually, the move comes only four months after the 2008 postal directive took effect, requiring most EU countries to open fully their postal markets by the end of 2010.

However, the EU internal markets commissioner has already written to eight states – including Germany, Holland and Belgium – warning that “reforms at national level must be pursued rigorously”, and Tuesday’s event reflects worries that there could be some backsliding from the directive’s aims by member states.

EU officials are concerned, in particular, that practical obstacles may be used to prevent the opening up of postal markets, even if the required legal changes are made.
Another potential restriction is the extent to which countries are demanding that competitors provide universal service, covering a country’s entire geographical area.

Slovakia, meanwhile, has already come under fire from the Commission’s competition arm over a new law which Brussels claims extends the monopoly held by Slovenska Posta to so-called ”hybrid mail” services, used by banks, insurers, utilities and the like for mass mailings.

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Verizon Business Unit Selected by U.S. Postal Service to Provide USD 16.4M in Network Services

Posted by | Jun 23, 2008 | |

Verizon announced that its Business unit has been selected by the U.S Postal Service to provide an estimated USD 16.4 million worth of network services under the federal Networx Universal communications program.

Verizon Business will be the primary provider of long-distance and calling-card services for the agency’s nearly 166,000 lines serving 34,000 locations nationwide, under a 10-year agreement valued at USD 10 million. In addition, the company was awarded a new task order valued at USD 6.4 million to upgrade about 100 data circuits to an Internet protocol network based on multi-protocol label switching.

Verizon Communications, Inc. provides communication services in the United States and internationally.

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Royal Mail pays GBP 4 million compensation to customers

Posted by | Jun 23, 2008 | |

Royal Mail paid GBP 4 million compensation to customers in the first three months of the year as complaints rose to 4,200 a day.

The figure included GBP 2.7 million for lost mail, an increase of GBP 1 million on the previous quarter.

It also paid out for damaged goods, late deliveries, failures to redirect mail and letters sent to the wrong addresses.

The total of GBP 4,004,834 in compensation was up from GBP 2.6 million in the previous quarter.

The figures heaped further pressure on Adam Crozier, the company’s chief executive, as union chiefs called for him to go.

Last month it was revealed that, while his basic salary remained unchanged at GBP 633,000, Mr Crozier’s income rose to GBP 843,000 because of a performance bonus and other benefits.

Customers claiming for lost items can claim up to 100 times the 36p first class stamp or the market value of the item, whichever is lower.

Some of the increase in complaints against Royal Mail is thought to be due to industrial action over pay and the end of last year.

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