Tag: Networks

New location may aid post offices (UK)

Posted by | Feb 20, 2008 | |

Westminster City Council offered the alternative after Tuesday’s announcement that 169 of the capital’s 850 post offices could close.

It said putting post counters in its buildings would preserve services and boost the authority’s income.

A six-week consultation has begun on the Post Office’s plans.

Councillor Tony Devenish said: “Post offices are vital for local communities and, at a time when the Government says it wants councils to enhance community cohesion and improve local services, we have this venerable national institution ripping the heart out of high streets up and down the land.

“I am saddened at the savage cuts announced by the Post Office and believe our proposals can offer a viable alternative.”

The Post Office’s plans are part of a wider move to close up to 2,500 post offices nationwide, which began in October last year.

The government has said mounting debts mean post offices needs to be closed in order to curb losses currently running at GBP 4m a week.

Figures show many post offices are losing large numbers of customers who used to come to the Post Office to claim their benefits but now get payments straight into their bank account.

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Japan Post says may take stake in retailer Lawson

Posted by | Feb 12, 2008 | |

State-owned Japan Post Holdings Co Ltd said on Tuesday it may buy a stake in Lawson Inc., Japan’s third-largest convenience store chain, in the latest move to combine postal and retailing.

The two companies said that within three years there would be 800 stores selling Lawson products and postal services.

“Until Japan Post goes public, it won’t be possible for both companies to hold each other’s shares at the same time. But so long as it is fine for just one side to take stake for a while, we can acquire Lawson shares,” said Yoshifumi Nishikawa, the president of Japan Post.

He added that the company had yet to determine how many Lawson shares it would buy.

While some convenience store chains, including Yamazaki Daily Store, owned by Yamazaki Baking Co Ltd, have teamed up with Japan Post to deliver packages, Lawson has been the most aggressive to partner up with the state-run postal firm.

Lawson has placed mailboxes in all its stores and operates five branches inside post offices. The two companies are cooperating to deliver mail in Kochi prefecture in western Japan.

Japan Post is the holding firm of four businesses — mail delivery, banking, life insurance and counter services — which split into four companies in October.

The banking and insurance businesses are set to be privatised sometime by 2017, but the government does not plan to privatise the mail delivery and counter service operations.

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Emirates Post opens new post office at RAK Free Zone

Posted by | Feb 7, 2008 | |

Emirates Post has opened a new post office in Ras Al Khaimah Free Trade Zone, to cater to the needs of investors, businessmen and employees. The post office is located in the Business Park of the zone

The post office was inaugurated by Mr. Jamal Saif Al Jarwan, Director of Postal Zone 4, and Mr. Oussama El Omari, CEO/Director General, RAK Free Trade Zone.

‘The opening of the new post office is part of Emirates Post’s strategy to take our services and products closer to our customers, including business people,’ said Ibrahim Bin Karam, CEO of Emirates Post. ‘The post office will offer all postal and non-postal services, such as parcels, money exchange and remittances.’

‘The new post office in RAK Free Trade Zone will add another useful facility on our list of investor-friendly services. We already have 3,000 P.O. Boxes located in three different parks of the free zone to satisfy investors’ needs,’ said El Omari. ‘This has been necessitated by the increase in the number of zone-registered companies which has crossed 4,000. The zone continues its effort to provide its clients, investors and employees with a wide range of unique services.’

Mr. El Omari added, ‘We are pleased that the full-fledged post offices will bring different services under one roof for the benefit of our tenants and employees.’

The post office timings will be from 8 am to 3 pm, Saturday to Thursday.

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Emirates Post hikes post box fees

Posted by | Jan 31, 2008 | |

The Emirates Post (EP) has increased the annual fees of P.O. boxes, both individual and commercial. The revised fees came into effect on January 1, according to EP officials.

Individual post boxes now cost Dh200, instead of the previous cost of Dh150, and the fee for the commercial post box has been doubled from Dh250 to Dh500.

Officials added that the increase has been imposed in order to cover the additional expenses of the services provided by the organisation.

“A circular with regard to the price hike was sent to us earlier this year. But then it is a minimal hike and we don’t think that the income of people or companies wishing to have a P.O Box number is going to be affected,” said representatives at the Al Khor Post Office.

In a press release issued by the Emirates Post on the issue, officials said that lately, the EP had spent a lot of money on introducing new services.

“EP has modernised its infrastructure. It has set up the Post Exchange Centre at Al Ramool in Dubai. A document centre is also going to be established soon,” the release said.

“Last year, EPhad signed an agreement with a Japanese company to export and set up an advanced system to handle the letters, at a cost of Dh14 million. In the next four years, the UAE and specifically Dubai is expected to receive more than a million letters daily due to the increasing number of companies and organisations in the UAE. Modern system is the only way to deal with post parcels and distributing them in a short time,” added officials.

The post offices network has expanded to include 87 branches around the UAE. Studies and researches are being conducted to modernise that network to supply customers with the best services, officials added.

“We signed a number of contracts and agreements that cost us a lot. The charges of post services, transportation and other relevant services have increased all over the world. This directly affected the charges imposed on our services. Besides, we are always promoting our services of post deliveries to post boxes and this naturally costs more,” the authorities opined.

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Postal dept launches Project Arrow

Posted by | Jan 25, 2008 | |

Kamlesh Chand, Deputy Director General (personnel), launched the second phase of `Project Arrow’ here on Saturday. Three post offices (Kanpur GPO, Nawabganj and Cantt) were selected for modernisation and computerisation.

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