Tag: Royal Mail

Post Office Counts the Cost of Wild Animal Accidents

Posted by | Mar 6, 2008 | |

Post Office Car Insurance is advising UK drivers to take extra care on the UK’s roads as we enter a peak period of wild animal related road accidents.

Every year an estimated one million animals, including deer, foxes, badgers, otters and squirrels, are killed on UK roads, with many more suffering fatal injuries but crawling away from the roadside to die.

It’s not only animal lives which are at stake; it’s estimated that deer accidents alone account for over 500 personal injuries, including over 100 serious or fatal injuries. And costs for repairs to motor vehicles involved in animal collisions are estimated at over GBP 17m.

The Spring season signals the start of a peak period for road accidents involving badgers and Roe Deer – road accidents account for an estimated 100,000 deaths of badgers and deer every year. As we move into Spring, the Post Office is working with The People’s Trust for Endangered Species (PTES) and the Deer Initiative to raise awareness of how to avoid accidents with wild animals, and what to do in the event of a collision.

It’s not just country roads where drivers need to beware of wild animals crossing – each year an estimated 20,000 urban foxes are killed on roads in UK towns and cities.

Birds are also at risk with an estimated ten million killed on the roads each year. Three million are pheasants and for increasingly rare species such as barn owls, a worrying 3,000 juvenile birds are killed by motor vehicles annually.

According to the PTES’s ‘Mammals on Roads’ survey, rabbits account for up to half of overall animal casualties, with the following creatures also accounting for tens of thousands of road deaths:

• Foxes – 100K Estimated annual road fatalities
• Deer – 50K Estimated annual road fatalities
• Badgers – 50K Estimated annual road fatalities
• Hedgehogs – 15K Estimated annual road fatalities

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Last post for junk mail? Steep fall in letters you love to hate

Posted by | Mar 6, 2008 | |

The modern curse of junk mail may be lifting, as figures revealed direct marketing has slumped to its lowest level this century.

According to the Royal Mail, there are now 800,000 fewer items being delivered annually than at the industry peak in 2003. However, the industry watchdog warned that while this might be welcomed by householders, it could be bad news for the postal service.

Figures from the Royal Mail still showed 4.65 billion items of direct mail dropping through doors last year – down 7.4 per cent year on year.

Trisha Dow, director of Postwatch Scotland, said the drop was “worrying” as it would cost the postal service – but the figure could be an aberration due to industrial action by Royal Mail workers last year. Postal workers went on strike over pay and conditions, leading to a major backlog of mail.

Ms Dow said: “We would say it’s worrying because it’s an element of the mail that helps balance the books. If that drops substantially – and we know there seems to be a growth in electronic marketing – then it’s difficult to say we would be glad of that.

“It’s not great news if it’s anything other than a blip. I would be interested to see if it’s a pattern.”

According to the advertising industry, the figures mean firms are getting better at targeting direct mail so that householders only get the type of offers in which they are interested. New methods of getting the message out – such as texts and e-mails – are also taking away some of the direct-mail business.

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Direct mail figures in Scotland

Posted by | Mar 6, 2008 | |

The modern curse of junk mail may be lifting, as figures revealed direct marketing has slumped to its lowest level this century.

According to the Royal Mail, there are now 800,000 fewer items being delivered annually than at the industry peak in 2003. However, the industry watchdog warned that while this might be welcomed by householders, it could be bad news for the postal service.

Figures from the Royal Mail still showed 4.65 billion items of direct mail dropping through doors last year – down 7.4 per cent year on year.

Trisha Dow, director of Postwatch Scotland, said the drop was “worrying” as it would cost the postal service – but the figure could be an aberration due to industrial action by Royal Mail workers last year. Postal workers went on strike over pay and conditions, leading to a major backlog of mail.

Ms Dow said: “We would say it’s worrying because it’s an element of the mail that helps balance the books. If that drops substantially – and we know there seems to be a growth in electronic marketing – then it’s difficult to say we would be glad of that.

According to the advertising industry, the figures mean firms are getting better at targeting direct mail so that householders only get the type of offers in which they are interested. New methods of getting the message out – such as texts and e-mails – are also taking away some of the direct-mail business.

Robert Keich, a spokesman for industry body the Direct Marketing Agency, said: “There is a much greater use of targeting and precision and taking out ‘gone always’ – people who have left the household.

For its part, Royal Mail believes the internet is creating the biggest dent in its business. Fraser Chisholm, head of media, said: “The internet is a significant threat to direct mail in its current form but it’s a fantastic opportunity for direct mail to re-position itself.”

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Postcomm hosts 'Post Theatre' at The IDMF 08

Posted by | Mar 4, 2008 | |

Helping the environment, electronic substitution, the innovation of hybrid mail and the way that Postcomm, the regulator for postal services, sees the future of the postal market, will be discussed at a series of seminars in London.

The three days of seminars make up a ‘Post Theatre’ that Postcomm is hosting at this year’s International Direct Marketing Fair which opens from 29 April – 1 May at Earls Court 2, London.

The liberalisation of the UK postal market has brought about significant changes in the way business postal services are handled. But in parallel with liberalisation, other influences have developed, such as the rise in electronic communication and concerns about the environment.

In a Postcomm survey of business customers in 2007, one in five said they had explored alternatives to mail and had moved some of their mail to other media in the previous 12 months.

While electronic communication has led to substitution, digital technology provides further opportunities for innovation in the mails market. Consumer spending on online shopping grew 50 pct last year and all mail operators are seeking innovative ways to fulfil these orders. Hybrid mail is now available: this is an “electronic-to-physical” service which allows businesses and individuals to send letters electronically from personal computers directly to a print facility near its destination where it is printed, enveloped and delivered locally.

As well as reducing staff time and the need for paper, envelopes and franking machines for the sender, hybrid mail has a reduced carbon footprint compared with traditional delivery networks because it cuts out the need to carry mail over a long distance. Many of the major companies offering hybrid systems will have speakers at the seminar.

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GLS inaugurated a new hub in France

Posted by | Mar 4, 2008 | |

GLS opened its EUR 4,5 million parcels distribution hub at Roquemaure, near Avignon, South-East France, to finalise its transport plan for southern France. With the new hub, the company expects to optimize its service quality to better cope with the rising parcel volumes in the region.

Built on a surface of 30,000 sqm, the new 4,000 sqm facility is equipped with the latest technology and has the capacity to sort 45,000 parcels a day. The site has 100 quays, 40 for HGVs and 60 for smaller vehicles. It will serve as a hub and as an agency at the same time thanks to a special delivery zone differentiating the two parties and assuring the safety of the parcels.

The new Roquemaure hub will employ 70 local workers. Following the opening of GLS’s hub in Uzerche in January 2007, this is the final part of the EUR 100 million that GLS invested in Europe during 2006-2007 to further expand its network.

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