Tag: Royal Mail

Canada Post will provide free delivery of letters to deployed troops in Afghanistan and elsewhere overseas

Posted by | Aug 30, 2007 | |

Canada Post announced today it will begin providing free delivery of letters from family and friends to Canadian troops deployed in Afghanistan and elsewhere overseas effective October 26, 2007 until the start of 2009. At that time, Canada Post and the Department of National Defence will jointly evaluate the program.
Canada Post also announced it will again provide free parcel service for family and friends of deployed Canadian troops for the coming 2007 holiday season. The program, which will run from October 26, 2007 to January 11, 2008, means Canada Post will deliver parcels free of charge to Canadian troops in Afghanistan and elsewhere overseas. At the end of this period, Canada Post and the Department of National Defence will jointly evaluate the program, as was the case last year with the parcel delivery program.
With capacity limitations on military aircraft carrying supplies and munitions to deployed forces, this offer is restricted to family and friends of the deployed service men and women serving overseas in war zones. That includes members of the Canadian Forces serving in Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Sinai and Jerusalem. Troops serving on any of the deployed Her Majesty’s Canadian Ships are also included in the offer.
To ensure the proper customs declaration form and addressing information, the letters and parcels will need to be deposited at one of Canada Post’s more than 6,600 full service retail outlets across the country (letters and packages dropped in regular street letter boxes will not qualify). They will then be forwarded to Canadian Forces Bases in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Victoria, British Columbia and Belleville, Ontario. Once delivered to the military bases, the Department of National Defence will take charge of the letters and parcels and ensure their delivery overseas. All mail must be addressed to a specific soldier, including rank and mission information.

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Mobile libraries could offer postal services in the UK

Posted by | Aug 30, 2007 | |

Mobile libraries could be used to supply postal services in Norfolk it emerged last night – as a campaign got under way to fight more damaging cuts to the post office network.

County councillors are to lobby ministers against cuts earmarked for next year, amid fears that between 40 and 60 post offices could be closed and the network reduced to 200.

County Hall is keen to sign up MPs to its campaign to fight a further 17pc cut in the network, unveiled as part of the governments’ “Network Change Programme” in May.

In Norfolk between 1999 and 2005, the number of post offices fell from 354 to 275.

Jon Clemo, development team manager at Norfolk Rural Community Council, which is working with the authority, said using council buildings was part of an approach to create ‘hubs’ and a number of approaches were being developed in the county including a community run shop, in Mileham, near Dereham, a post office in a church, at Newton Flotman, and a satellite post office operating from a kitchen hatch at the village hall at Garveston, near Dereham.

“Its’ vital that people in rural areas maintain access to these services, particularly the most vulnerable members of society,” he said. “There are a number of different ways of delivering that and making use of existing community facilities is a fantastic way of doing this.”

Mobile libraries are definitely an option and we are working with the county council on a project.”

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Postcomm agrees to Royal Mail stopping Sunday collections

Posted by | Aug 29, 2007 | |

Postcomm has published its agreement to Royal Mail’s request to stop collecting post from post boxes and businesses on Sundays and Bank Holidays. The document is available here.

The agreement is subject to several customer safeguards which Postwatch suggested, and which have been agreed by Royal Mail:

– Royal Mail will communicate the changes to customers, through placing notices on postboxes and at Crown post offices where Sunday/bank holidays collections take place, as well as contacting the 50 businesses that currently receive a tailored Sunday collection service.

– Collection plate information will be amended.

– Post boxes in areas of high usage will be monitored and emptied if there is a risk of overflowing.

Postwatch accepts that some customers will be inconvenienced by the change. However, given the low volumes of Sunday collections and the relatively high cost of the service, on balance, we believe this move is justified, insofar as it will help reduce Royal Mail’s costs and ensure the universal service continues to be delivered at an affordable price.

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Deutsche Post cut to 'sell' at Goldman Sachs

Posted by | Aug 28, 2007 | |

Goldman Sachs has cut its rating on Deutsche Post to ‘sell’ from ‘buy’ and its target price to 18 eur from 24 eur, according to dealers, saying any delay in German mail liberalization seems unlikely, implying volume loss and margin erosion for the company.

In a note this morning, Goldman said a delay to German mail liberalization – scheduled for 2008 – now seems unlikely.

The broker said a cost-cutting program at Deutsche Post is unlikely to compensate for revenue declines. Liberalization threatens the company’s free cash flow generation and, as such, activist/private equity investors may shy away, reducing pressure for internal change, said Goldman.

Goldman has added Deutsche Post to its ‘conviction sell’ List.

Since it was upgraded to ‘buy’ on January 24, 2006, noted Goldman, the stock has declined 1.1 pct vs. a 19.1 pct increase in the FTSE World Europe.

The German coalition government has agreed to continue with plans to liberalize the market for mail weighing less than 50 grams for January 2008, assuming agreement can be reached on minimum wage legislation, noted Goldman.

It expects this to drive poor share price performance for Deutsche Post.

The broker has reduced its EBIT estimates by 9.5 pct for 2008 and 13.7 pct for 2009.

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Post Office marks 145th anniversary of savings

Posted by | Aug 28, 2007 | |

As the Post Office marks its 145th year as a home for the nation’s savings; research into today’s savings behavior compared to yesteryear reveals that we’re saving less than our counterparts did last century.

Overall, one in four (24 per cent) people today don’t save at all and a third (32 per cent) save infrequently. In contrast, 70 per cent of adults play the National Lottery on a regular basis, meaning we’re more likely to play the lottery than save regularly.

The majority of savers (56 per cent) say they are not saving for any particular goal, just “the future”. The single biggest reason for saving is for a holiday (29 per cent).

A third (35 per cent) of 18-24 yr olds are saving for a deposit on a home, while almost half (48 per cent) of those aged 55 – 64 are frantically topping up their retirement savings.

Lack of spare money is the main reason for not saving today (71 per cent). For 27 per cent of people there are just too many debts to pay off, while 17 per cent say they just spend all their money before they can save it.

The Post Office has produced a historic savings time line to chart the UK’s savings habits.

It reveals the savings ratio – the proportion of post-tax income that households save rather than spend – has varied significantly over the years. The highest peak at 12.4 per cent was in 1980 (along with high inflation). One of the lowest periods occurred between 1946 and 1955 during the post war slump when the savings ratio only entered positive territory once (0.3 pct) during Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation.

With the savings ratio now at 2.1pct – its lowest point since 1959 – the Post Office is using this anniversary as a timely reminder for people to remember the importance of saving.

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