Services of General Interest (Including Postal setion)
Services of General Interest (Including Postal setion)
Read MoreTag: Republic of Ireland
Distribution company celebrates first anniversary in Bristol
Local distribution company John T Evans Haulage Ltd is celebrating its first anniversary in Bristol since it opened a new GBP 1m (25,000 sq) warehouse facility in Avonmouth last year.
The 25-year old company is a member of Palletways, Europe’s leading palletized freight network. John T Evans opened its Bristol operation last May with 18 employees and has since grown to over 25 members of staff with a fleet of 14 vehicles. Its location in Bristol is an important part of the company’s business development plans to increase its current turnover of GBP 6m to some GBP 10m over the next three years.
As one of the largest members in the Palletways network, John T Evans manages over 250 incoming pallets a day and delivers 150 outgoing pallets for over 50 customers in Bristol and the surrounding areas. Through the Palletways network, the company offers its customers next day and economy distribution services for one to six pallet consignments across the UK & Ireland, as well as to mainland Europe, including the Benelux countries, Denmark, Germany and France.
Read MoreNext-day delivery of mail improves by 4%
Next-day delivery of standard mail by An Post improved by 4 per cent in the first quarter of 2007, but still fell short of targets set by the regulator.
Results from the quarterly independent report on the quality of service performance of An Post from ComReg found that 78 per cent of single piece priority mail, or standard correspondence, was delivered within one working day throughout the State against a target of 94 per cent. The report revealed that 98 per cent of all mail was delivered within three working days, still short of the 99.5 per cent target set by ComReg.
The regulator said the report highlighted some variation in results between different mail flows.
“Of note once again is the poor performance of mail posted outside of Dublin for delivery to addresses in Dublin county – 72 per cent, in contrast with the level of service attributed to mail posted outside of Dublin for delivery within county of post- ing 81 per cent, or compared with the performance of mail posted in Dublin for local delivery of 80 per cent,” ComReg said.
ComReg also found that 79 per cent of mail posted in Dublin for nationwide delivery is reported as delivered the next working day, while 76 per cent of mail posted outside Dublin for delivery throughout the State is delivered within one working day of posting.
Mail posted outside of Dublin for local delivery recorded a success rate of 81 per cent, the report revealed.
An Post chief Donal Connell said the report showed a significant improvement in An Post’s operations.
“These results confirm the steady improvement we have seen in our internal quality measures, and it is all the more satisfying given the increased volume of mail we handled during this period,” he said.
“They also confirm the results issued recently by the International Postal Corporation (IPC) on international mail and also acknowledged by Royal Mail,” he said
A recent IPC study showed that in the first quarter of 2007 An Post achieved a 5 per cent improvement on last year’s rate of next-day delivery for incoming international mail, Mr Connell said.
Read MoreAn Post: results of its quarterly report on the quality of service performance
The Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg), the National Regulatory Authority (NRA) for the postal industry in Ireland, today published the results of its quarterly independent report on the Quality of Service performance of An Post.
The report shows that 78% of single piece priority mail (standard correspondence) was delivered within one working day throughout the State against a target of 94%.
This represents a 4% increase in service quality performance during the same period in 2006, albeit well short of the quality of service target set by ComReg.
It was also found that 79% of mail posted in Dublin for nationwide delivery is reported as delivered the next working day, while 76% of mail posted outside Dublin for delivery throughout the State is delivered within one working day of posting.
Mail posted outside of Dublin for next day delivery in Dublin recorded a 72% success rate, while mail posted outside of Dublin for local delivery recorded a success rate of 81%.
Finally, the report found that 98% of all mail was delivered within 3 working days – still short of the 99.5% performance target set by ComReg.
The survey is undertaken independently of postal operators. The survey is based on the statistical methods set out by the European Standards Institute (CEN) and is mandated by the European Commission.
In accordance with the CEN standard, bulk mail is not included. The survey is conducted by TNS mrbi and is independently audited.
Read MoreCommunications Workers' Union says 1,000 postal jobs underthreat from liberalisation plans
Up to 1,000 jobs in Ireland could be lost if European Commission proposals to liberalise the postal market throughout Europe are implements by 2009 as planned, the Communications Workers’ Union (CWU) has claimed.
More than 80 main post offices around the State were closed for an hour at lunchtime yesterday as part of a protest by the group of unions at An Post against the commission’s plans. Similar actions took place throughout Europe.
In a statement last night, the Department of Communications said the Government supported liberalisation of the postal network.
Seán McDonagh, CWU national officer, said that the introduction of the current proposals, without any safeguards, “would lead to the destruction of the universal services obligation which ensures all citizens get daily deliveries at a uniform price”.
“The commission directive in its current format would remove all protections from traditional postal operators by January 1st, 2009, but makes no provision for funding to secure a universal postal service at an affordable price to all customers wherever they live,” he said.
The trade unions at An Post fear that private operators entering the market would “cherry pick” lucrative delivery areas, leaving the company to deal with less profitable routes.
“If somebody can deliver mail just in Dublin 4 where it is highly profitable and easy to do, that is unfair competition, particularly if they do not have an obligation to deliver anywhere else,” Mr McDonagh said.
He estimated that up to 1,000 jobs could be lost in Ireland if the market liberalisation plans went ahead and that in addition conditions of employment at An Post would be eroded.
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