Tag: Royal Mail

Regulator considers five-day post service

Posted by | Jun 25, 2007 | |

Royal Mail could be allowed to cut deliveries from six to five days a week following a review by the postal regulator into the need for a six-day service in a competitive mail market.

The state-owned postal operator was allowed to end second daily deliveries three years ago to help restore profitability.

Now Postcomm, as part of a sweeping review of the future of regulation, is considering reducing compulsory deliveries to every home and workplace to five days a week. The regulator is also sympathetic to a request from Royal Mail to limit this universal service obligation to stamped letters and packages.

Sarah Chambers, Postcomm chief executive, told a conference in London on Monday that the current rules provided more of a “Rolls-Royce” universal service than elsewhere in Europe, where five days a week was standard.

The requirement to deliver post to the front door was another Rolls-Royce aspect of the universal service obligation, she added. In other European countries, post was often put in mailboxes at the entrance to a property or block of flats.

At the annual postal service conference organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs, Ms Chambers said that insisting on a Saturday delivery could lead to higher prices for other services.

Business users warned Friday and Saturday deliveries were important for direct marketing.

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Direct mail industry braced for postal chaos

Posted by | Jun 25, 2007 | |

The direct mail industry is expected to be hit by months of postal chaos following the Communications Workers Union’s decision to stage the first national strike in more than a decade.

Many of the UK’s top brands, including those operating in home shopping, financial services and charities, as well as heavyweight campaigns by TV rivals BSkyB and Virgin Media, are reliant on Royal Mail, not only for direct mail but also for transactional post.

The first day of action is planned for this Friday, and is expected to be followed by a strike next week and another on July 9.

Royal Mail has taken out press ads in several national newspapers to explain its position. The ad says: “A strike is the last thing we want. But the issue at the heart of this dispute is change. We believe that Royal Mail has no alternative but to change and modernise, which all our major rivals did years ago.”

The dispute centres around a 2.5% pay offer and plans by Royal Mail to modernise its network by bringing in more automated sorting equipment. This will result in the workforce being cut by 40,000. Workers voted 70% in favour of a strike.

It will also hit private operators – which have secured huge swathes of Royal Mail business since privatisation – as they rely on postal workers to deliver their mail for the so-called “final mile”. Both parties are due to restart talks.

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The Future of UK Postal Services

Posted by | Jun 25, 2007 | |

Now in its sixth year, this conference is firmly established as one of the leading events in the postal calendar. And with Royal Mail’s modernisation programme, the new operators’ increasing market share, the expansion of end-to-end, and Postcomm’s Strategy Review on the agenda, this conference comes at a crucial stage in the development of the market. This event will bring together the leading players in the industry to debate these issues and determine the future of the UK postal services industry

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Postal firm DX confident that doubling its size is in the bag

Posted by | Jun 25, 2007 | |

DX, the postal business bought last year by private equity firm Candover Partners, is confident it can double in size over the next few years as deregulation of the postal industry gathers pace.

The firm – originally known as Document Exchange – was started nationally in the mid-1970s on the back of a major postal strike. The legal profession and law societies decided that they needed an alternative postal network. With a network of branches across the UK, DX is now one of the biggest competitors to Royal Mail.

DX, which has more than 27,000 private and public sector customers, stands to benefit if Royal Mail staff press ahead with the first national postal strike for 11 years.

Earlier this month, some 69,000 members of the Communication Workers Union – 77 per cent of those voting – backed a strike over pay and cost efficiency plans.

As well as legal practices, DX services surveyors, accountants, estate agents and other professional services firms. Its new Rutland Square facility can count all of the major Scottish law firms among its users.

Although DX is focused primarily on next-day business mail services, its clients have access to a special delivery product that covers both business and residential addresses.

Candover paid almost £350m last July to secure DX. The venture capital heavyweight also bought Secure Mail Services, which delivers cheque books and credit cards to consumers, for an undisclosed sum.

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Council takes on Post Office over closures

Posted by | Jun 22, 2007 | |

Westminster City Council is to lobby the Post Office at a hearing next month on the closure of post offices in its borough.

The council claims that as high streets are forced to fight for their future because of increased competition from out-of-town developments, Post Offices are vital in attracting shoppers and providing community services.

In July, senior bosses at the Post Office will give evidence to a Westminster City Council Overview & Scrutiny Committee hearing that is examining the impact of proposed franchises and closures in the area. The council will seek to protect Post Offices under Policy SS1 of its Unitary Development Plan, which states: “Though all shops are considered important, local convenience shops are considered particularly important.” The council includes Post Offices in its list of local convenience stores.

Councillor Danny Chalkley, Westminster City Council’s Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Transport, said: “At a time when there appears to be a consensus in encouraging small shops and local trade to benefit the environment and help establish a sense of community, we are faced with the heart of many high streets being ripped out through Post Office closures.

A six-week consultation is also due to begin next month on the planned relocation of a Post Office on Poland Street in Soho to the WHSmith store at The Plaza on Oxford Street. This is one of 15 Crown Post Offices across London that are subject to a new franchise agreement with WHSmith.

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