Tag: Mail Services

Expensive living costs strangle the UK’s savings

Posted by | Mar 28, 2008 | |

The rise in day-to-day living costs is leaving people with no spare cash to put away in savings, according to a new study by the Post Office, and those that are able to save are withdrawing their money shortly after depositing it.

Increases in council tax and energy bills have hit the UK’s wallets hard with 4.8 million people saying they simply cannot afford to make regular savings contributions because of rises in living costs**. Almost half (49 per cent) of those not saving (17 per cent of the UK) said they simply have no surplus cash at the end of each month to save.

The Post Office has also discovered the emergence of savings ’bouncers’, where people who have been making savings contributions to their savings account then find that they have to withdraw the money before the month is over. The study shows that in the past 12 months, half (50 per cent) of those who made a contribution at the beginning of the month had to withdraw it before the end. One in five (19 per cent) admitted to ’bouncing’ every month.

Four in 10 (43 per cent) of those who save said they stop or reduce the amount they save leading up to the Christmas period. Some are still feeling the effects into the new year, with one in five (21 per cent) savers saying that it would be at least March before they could return to saving.

Many people that are actually saving are becoming more wary of where they put their money. Due to the media attention given to the world’s current economic situation, one in 10 said they are now wary of savings accounts (10 per cent) and products linked to the stock market (11 per cent).

However, almost half (47 per cent) of the respondents said that their savings behaviour had not changed. Over half (57 per cent) said instant access accounts are now the best home for their cash. Four in 10 (43 per cent) felt that cash ISAs were now the safest place for their savings.

Read More

New Zealand Post introduces new pricing in proportion system

Posted by | Mar 28, 2008 | |

On 28 March 2008, New Zealand Post introduced a new pricing in proportion system for all standard domestic mail. Similar to the system recently introduced in the UK this means letters and parcels sent within New Zealand are now priced in direct proportion to their size and weight. Previously parcels have been priced mainly on weight.

Motivations behind the change are very similar to that of the UK and reflect the worldwide drive for cost reflective pricing among incumbent postal operators. Previously some larger sized items of mail have been the same price to send as smaller items and this has not reflected the cost of handling them. As most of the mail that passes through our network is of a smaller size, it is fair that the postage price is in proportion to the size and weight of the item.

• larger items require manual processing (not machine processing)
• larger items require double handling by both Mail Sorters and Posties
• larger items are more costly to transport due to size

A further parallel with the UK can be seen with many standard items remaining the same price although New Zealand has not introduced a grace period for surcharging it will consider the change when assessing under paid items. The postage price for most of the standard domestic letters that go through the network remains unchanged at NZD 0.50 (USD 0.39)because most of these letters are of a smaller size.

However, a more selective brand of PiP is employed in New Zealand with the more lucrative bulk mail products escaping the new system. Bulk mail products (VolumePost, GoFlexible and PrintPost) and international products are not changing.

Read More

An Post achieves sustained improvement in quality

Posted by | Mar 28, 2008 | |

An Post’s next-day delivery service improved by five per cent in 2007 (to 77 pct) over the previous year, according to quality monitor figures announced by ComReg today (March 27, 2008).

Most significant is the seven per cent improvement (to 73 pct) achieved in the busy October to December period, over the same quarter in 2006 (66 pct). This quarter includes the pre-Christmas and year-end rush during which An Post’s recorded a processing peak of almost eight million items in one 24 hour period across its four automated mails hubs.

An Post Chief Executive, Donal Connell says that quality improvement is the company’s primary focus for 2008:

International quality monitors also show steady and sustained improvement in An Post’s delivery of international letters and parcels over the past 18 months. Incoming parcel traffic directly generated by on-line and home shopping activity is growing by approximately 14 per cent year on year.

Read More

UK Mail Operators likely to see Uniform VAT rates

Posted by | Mar 28, 2008 | |

Postcomm has hinted at the introduction of a uniform VAT rate (possibly 5 pct) that could be applied to all mail services in the UK.

In it’s ‘Forward Work Plan 2008-11’ Postcomm said it recognised the complexity of the UK mail market and was looking at the constraints that have been holding back the development of end-to-end competition in the UK:

Postcomm said that one barrier to entry was the uneven VAT regime. Royal Mail is currently exempt from VAT, whereas other operators have to charge customers VAT at 17.5 pct. Postcomm said it continued to support a level playing field on VAT for all postal operators, with no significant price rises for customers.

More significantly, it believed that a reduced rate of VAT (of say 5 pct) should be applied to all mail services. It said that in light of the European Commission’s ongoing infringement proceedings against the UK, Germany and Sweden on the interpretation of the VAT exemption for postal services, Postcomm has modelled the effect that different VAT exemption scenarios might have on the UK postal services market.

The result of this modelling has shown that the imposition of the full rate of VAT on all mail services (17.5 pct) could result in around a 5 pct decline in Royal Mail volumes, while the imposition of the reduced rate should only result in a 1 pct decline.

Read More

ComReg reports on An Post quality of service performance for 2007

Posted by | Mar 28, 2008 | |

The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg), the National
Regulatory Authority (NRA) for the postal industry in Ireland, today published
the results of the 2007 annual report on the Quality of Service performance of An
Post.
The report for the calendar year of 2007 shows that:
• Overall 77% of single piece priority mail – i.e. standard correspondence – was
delivered within one working day throughout the State. This represents an
improvement of five percentage points in service quality performance over the
annual result in 2006. However, 77% next day delivery compares with a target
of 94% set by ComReg.
• 77% of mail posted in Dublin for nationwide delivery is reported as delivered
the next working day, an improvement of 7 percentage points over the annual
result for 2006, while 77% of mail posted outside Dublin for delivery
throughout the State is delivered within one working day of posting, an
improvement of 2 points over the annual result for 2006. These results indicate
that the level of performance improvement in Dublin in 2007 has not been
replicated in the provinces.
• Mail posted outside of Dublin for next day delivery in Dublin was the lowest
performing regional flow of mail, recording a 75% success rate.
• Traditionally mail posted locally for delivery within the county of posting has
outperformed the national figure. However in 2007 this mail flow performed
poorly and the results indicate no real difference in the performance of local
and long distance domestic mail. For example mail posted in Dublin for
delivery within the county recorded a 78% success rate while in the provincial
counties mail posted for delivery within the county recorded a success rate of
just 79%.
• 97% of all mail was delivered within 3 working days, a performance which
continues to fall short of the 99.5% target set by ComReg

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