Tag: Mail Services

Pin Group liquidator mandated by shareholders to continue operations

Posted by | May 26, 2008 | |

The liquidator of troubled German mail services company Pin Group AG S.A., Bruno Kuebler, has been mandated to continue its business in case he fails to find a buyer for the group.

Kuebler said in a statement he is optimistic he will find a buyer for the company. He said he is still in talks with three unidentified potential buyers.

France’s La Poste walked away from talks at the end of March, according to the statement.

PIN Group ran into trouble in December when publishing group and majority stakeholder Axel Springer AG stopped funding it after the German government decided to introduce minimum wages to the postal industry. Some 40 of its 91 units have filed for insolvency.

The company in 2007 reached full-year sales of 278 million euros, below the 346 million target, and negative earnings before earnings and tax (EBIT) of 68 million.

Kuebler said in the statement PIN’s debt as part of the insolvency procedures amount to more than 200 million euros.

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Franchisees: UPS needs a better return policy

Posted by | May 26, 2008 | |

For many small business owners, franchising sounds like the perfect option–it allows you to own and operate a business while having the support of a well-established brand behind you. Yet, there is a darker side to franchising, one that often gets lost in years of court appeals and settlements. If you are looking to franchise, it’s important to pay attention to the fine print.

A David and Goliath battle between United Parcel Service and its franchisees recently turned into a win for the small business owners. In a case that has been going on since 2002, the former franchisees of Mail Boxes Etc. are suing UPS for contract and franchise agreement violations; saying the shipping giant failed them when it forced them to convert to UPS stores or to go private.

UPS bought Mail Boxes Etc., then a chain of 4,300 packing and shipping centers, in 2001 in an all-cash transaction for USD 191.0 million. Its previous owner, U.S. Office Products, had declared bankruptcy.

The California Appellate Court said on Friday that it would reverse the previous decision that was in UPS’s favor. The decision requires that the two parties now face each other in front of a jury.

“The Court of Appeals gave us a total victory. The court reversed every single claim that UPS/MBE made, and awarded costs on appeal to the plaintiffs. This is a complete repudiation of UPS’ and MBE’s position and was the last major hurdle for us,” said Howard Spanier, a former franchisee of Mail Boxes Etc. “UPS blocked my renewal as an Mail Boxes Etc. despite my franchise agreement allowing me to do so. They would only allow me to renew as a UPS Store. I considered that option to be financial suicide, since under the UPS Store business model profit is totally controlled by UPS.”

UPS’s annual revenues went from USD 29.7 billion in 2000, just prior to the acquisition of Mail Boxes Etc., to USD 49.7 billion in 2007. There are currently 4,647 UPS Stores worldwide and 1,306 Mail Boxes Etc. stores.

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Swiss Post launches parcel pickup service

Posted by | May 26, 2008 | |

Swiss Post Swiss Post has launched a fee-based service for the pickup of inland addressed parcels of private customers and small businesses.

The new pickup service can be ordered online via the internet and includes collection of a maximum of five parcels per day from an address which does not necessarily need to be the same as the sender’s address.

The service fee depends on the amount of parcels. Swiss Post is offering introductory prices until the end of the year: collection of one parcel costs euro 2,80 instead of euro 3,-, collection of two parcels cost euro 3,70 and collection of three to five parcels cost euro 5,55 instead of euro 6,20.

The new service complements the internet solution named WebStamp introduced by Swiss Post two years ago. With WebStamp, customers can stamp and personalise their shipments via the internet. The parcel pickup service enables private and business customers to handle all their shipments from home or the office.

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Agreement in principle on new collective labour agreement for TNT

Posted by | May 24, 2008 | |

TNT and the trade unions ABVAKABO FNV, CNV Publieke Zaak, BVPP and VPP reached an agreement in principle on a new one-year collective labour agreement in constructive negotiations. The agreement will come into force with retroactive effect to 1 April 2008 and will apply to all TNT employees in the Netherlands.
The unions will present the agreement to their members with advice to accept. This puts an end to the planned industrial action.
The key arrangements are as follows:
• All employees will receive a salary rise in the form of a structural increase of 3 pct with retroactive effect to 1 April 2008, plus 0.5 pct in the form of a monthly payment until 1 April 2009;
• The monthly payment of 0.5 pct will become a structural increase with retroactive effect to 1 April 2008 if a consensus is reached by no later than 1 April 2009 on the following:
o an Operations collective labour agreement for employees in scales 1 to 4 at TNT Post’s Operations business unit
o market-level terms and conditions of employment for Operations, Marketing & Sales and the policy and support units for employees who do not fall under the planned collective labour agreement for Operations
o market-level terms and conditions of employment for the employees of TNT Post Parcel Service, including the Transport unit
o a separate collective labour agreement for Express, TNT Head Office, Spring, Cendris and European Mail Networks (EMN)
o the monthly payment will lapse if no agreement is reached by 31 March 2009
• The agreement running until 1 April 2009 will not include any form of retrenchment in the terms and conditions of employment.

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Outrage as Royal Mail boss Adam Crozier picks up GBP 3m pay

Posted by | May 24, 2008 | |

Royal Mail boss Adam Crozier raked in GBP 3million last year as his company closed 2500 post offices, it was revealed yesterday.

And last night, the chief executive and other bosses were accused of rewarding themselves for failure.

The figures released yesterday showed Crozier’s basic salary in 2007-8 remained unchanged at GBP 633,000, but this was increased to GBP 843,000 because of an annual performance bonus and other benefits.

He also got GBP 1.99million for a long-term incentive plan covering three years and a cash supplement in lieu of pension of GBP 208,000, according to the Royal Mail annual report.

Royal Mail chairman Allan Leighton, whose pay and bonus remained at GBP 200,000, said of Crozier’s salary: “The payment covers three years during which the group has consistently exceeded expectations and met all the targets set by the shareholder.”

The annual report also revealed that Ian Griffiths, who left his job as managing director of the letters business last year, received GBP 500,000 as compensation for loss of office – after doing the job for only a year.

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