Tag: Royal Mail

Royal Mail puts its stamp on Olympic handover

Posted by | Aug 21, 2008 | |

Royal Mail and China Post are going for gold in an historic joint issue of a special set of stamps to mark the handover of the Olympic Flag from Beijing to London.

From 22 August the stamps are available at Post Offices across the UK, two days before the Games’ closing ceremony when the Olympic Flag will pass from Beijing to London. The special stamps mark the first event in the handover celebrations and everyone across the UK can participate.

Stamps with identical images will be issued across China by China Post from 24 August 2008. This stamp issue is the first partnership of its kind between Royal Mail and China Post.

The four 1st Class stamps feature landmarks of the two cities. The astonishing mesh of steel of the National Stadium in Beijing sits next to the London Eye which recently welcomed its 30 millionth visitor.

Representing the past tradition of each country, further stamps show Beijing’s Corner Tower of the Forbidden City – home to China’s Emperors for five centuries – beside another former Royal residence, The Tower of London.

Each stamp on the Sheet- entitled ‘Olympic Games – Handover of the Olympic Flag from Beijing to London’- features the famous Olympic rings, representing the five continents of the world.

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Royal Mail announce further service cuts across east and south of Scotland

Posted by | Aug 19, 2008 | |

Dozens of post offices have been earmarked for closure or downgrading in the latest round of cuts to the service.

Post Office officials said today a six-week consultation on shutting 26 branches has been launched in Edinburgh, the Lothians and the south of Scotland. It is proposed a further 32 will be replaced by so-called outreach services, including mobile post offices.
The move is part of the UK government’s plans to close around 2,500 post offices across Britain by 2009.

A total of 119 post office closures across Scotland have already been confirmed. A further 70 are threatened with the axe, including the 26 announced on Tuesday (19th August).
West Lothian Council said it was disappointed by news of the proposed closures, which includes three in its area.

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Postcomm decide on financial relief for industrial action & future of the bulk mail compensation (UK)

Posted by | Aug 19, 2008 | |

Postcomm published decision documents about giving Royal Mail financial relief for industrial action in 2007-08, and potentially also for 2008-09, and set out the future of the bulk mail compensation scheme.

Postcomm has largely accepted Royal Mail’s application for relief from the financial consequences of transformation-related industrial action in 2007-08. This means Royal Mail will forgo GBP 21.6m of allowed revenue (due to the C-factor) because of poor quality of service performance during the year, but bulk mail customers will not receive compensation. If Postcomm had not accepted the application, Royal Mail would have had to pay around GBP 77m in bulk mail compensation to customers and would have forgone around GBP 91m in allowed revenue. If Royal Mail’s application had been accepted in full, Royal Mail would still have forgone GBP 12m because of its poor Postcode Area performance.

Postcomm has agreed, conditionally, to Royal Mail’s request to suspend the Bulk Mail Compensation Scheme and to adjust the C-factor in 2008-09 where quality of service failures are caused by transformation-related strike action. However, Postcomm will consider a wide range of factors in reaching a final decision on relief at the end of the year.

Postcomm has decided to remove the regulated bulk compensation scheme for delay from 1 April 2010. The main reasons for removing Royal Mail’s compensation scheme for delayed bulk mail are:

– In the developing competitive market it is more appropriate to move towards market driven outcomes;
– Removing the scheme will allow customers to negotiate compensation schemes to suit their own needs;
– The current scheme does not necessarily target those customers who have suffered poor performance.

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Postcomm to Amend Postal Operator Licences

Posted by | Aug 19, 2008 | |

With Postwatch soon to be absorbed into a larger multi-consumer watchdog known as the National Consumer Council on 30th September, Postcomm is making adjustments to its paperwork which includes existing postal operator licences.

To prepare for the abolition of Postwatch and the new complaint handling standards, Postcomm needs to make relevant licence modifications to postal operators’ licences to reflect the transfer of functions from Postwatch to the new NCC and the new complaint handling standards.

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Direct marketers under Royal Mail ruling

Posted by | Aug 18, 2008 | |

The decision by postal services regulator Postcomm to exempt Royal Mail from paying compensation for industrial action taken during 2007-08 has been greeted with disappointment by ISBA’s bulk mailer members.

Royal Mail had requested that the Bulk Mail Compensation Scheme be suspended and Postcomm have now agreed to this request. The regulator agreed that the strike action in 2007-08 had been caused by Royal Mail’s efforts to re-organise and streamline its business.

However, the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers (ISBA), which represents the interests of major bulk mailers has reacted with dismay and called on Postcomm to ensure that Royal Mail offers fair compensation to bulk mailers on an individual basis in the future.

Marketing Services Manager David Ellison said that they were most concerned that Postcomm not only gave Royal Mail an effective exemption over the strike action during 2007-08 but also for potential strikes in 2008-09.

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