Tag: Royal Mail

Royal Mail eyes last-gasp talks

Posted by | Jun 17, 2007 | |

Royal Mail has written to conciliation service Acas, offering to meet the Communication Workers Union (CWU) ahead of a proposed strike. The company insisted it was not making any concessions, but was seeking to again explain its position.

Last week Royal Mail insisted that the organisation could not afford to improve its 2.5% pay offer, despite staff voting for strike action.

The CWU is due to set dates for a series of national walkouts.

“Royal Mail is contacting Acas, not to make any concessions in our position, but to try to explain to the union once again the very serious challenges the business now faces in an open, competitive market,” a spokesman said.

The CWU has said the strikes will go ahead unless a breakthrough is reached.

However both sides have said they are keen for fresh talks.

If a nationwide postal strike does go ahead, it would be the first since 1996.

About 77% of Royal Mail’s CWU members who took part in a ballot voted for the strike action, on a turnout of 60%.

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Royal Mail flogs 75,000 'lost in the post' items

Posted by | Jun 17, 2007 | |

Royal Mail has admitted selling off thousands of items that got ‘lost in the post’ to help meet its running costs. The troubled company sells the contents of about 75,000 undelivered packages every year, at the risk of enraging hordes of customers already frustrated that their post has gone astray.

Even customers who paid over the odds for premium ‘secure’ services to cover valuable items have been shocked to find their goods put up for auction, in an operation that could be netting the postal giant millions of pounds a year.
The scandal was exposed by retired teacher John Beattie after he discovered that a set of antique bagpipes, which Royal Mail had lost, were for sale on internet auction site eBay.
Royal Mail spokeswoman admitted: “About 500,000 undeliverable parcels are sent to Royal Mail’s return letter centre every year.
“They are kept for up to six months, after which a proportion – about 15 per cent – is sent to auction, with the proceeds making a contribution to the centre’s annual GBP 10million running costs.”
She said some of the money was given to charity, but would not disclose how much.

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FirstGBRf extends Royal Mail contract to move mail by rail until 2010

Posted by | Jun 15, 2007 | |

FirstGroup-owned rail freight company FirstGBRf said it has extended its contract with Royal Mail to transport post until 2010.

The deal will see the freight haulier move more than 1 mln items a day on two return services between Willesden in London, Warrington and Wishaw in Scotland.

FirstGBR started carrying post for Royal Mail at the end of 2004, marking a return to the railways for the postal service following the end of its contract with previous postal train operator English, Welsh & Scottish Railway due to a disagreement over costs.

FirstGBRf did not disclose the value of the contract.

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Royal Mail challenged over plans for zonal pricing for bulk mail

Posted by | Jun 15, 2007 | |

Royal Mail’s bid to introduce zonal pricing for bulk mailers has come under fire during industry body Postcomm’s fourth annual industry forum this week (12 June).

The company’s proposal would affect the cost of sending bulk mail depending on which of five zones it is sent to. In some areas, such as within the M25, the charge increase could be as great as 12%.

Around 140 representatives attended the debate on Royal Mail’s proposals, which, if approved, could come into effect as early as April next year.

The zones are priced according to population density. Low density zones would see prices hiked 11%, whereas the business district of central London would see a drop of 28%.

Royal Mail justifies this anomalous increase because of the congestion charge, increased recruitment and salary costs and other factors.

Postcomm will publish a consultation document in July, after which there will be two months for interested parties to raise issues. A final decision will be taken 2 January 2008.

The Postcomm spokesperson questioned whether an April 2008 rollout would then be a feasible date and whether there would be enough time to communicate these changes to bulk mailers.

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DX: New Postal Facility In Edinburgh

Posted by | Jun 15, 2007 | |

DX opened its new postal facility at Rutland Square in Edinburgh. The opening follows a GBP 0.25 million refurbishment of the postal facility, reinforcing DX’s commitment to continually improve services for its Scottish customer base.

Last year saw full deregulation of the postal market and, along with it, several new entrants into the arena. DX however is unique. With its own nationwide network, DX is the only major mail operator not to rely on Royal Mail for the delivery – which, with a potential postal strike looming, gives it a distinct advantage.

Hence, as well as investment in its postal facility, DX has introduced a number of service initiatives which, it believes, provide unparalleled cost and service benefits to the Scottish business community. These include:

– a same day post delivery service between Edinburgh and Glasgow
– guaranteed next-day delivery service nationwide (to business and residential addresses) costing just GBP 3.50
– UK-wide pre 9am delivery of mail to other DX customers for less than the cost of a 1st class stamp

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