Tag: Royal Mail

Royal Mail says change is the only option

Posted by | Jun 7, 2007 | |

Royal Mail said today that it would continue its drive to modernise the business to allow it to compete and thrive in the competitive market.

Commenting on the outcome of a strike ballot held by the Communication Workers Union on pay, conditions and the business plan, the company said that the union had balloted 127,000 people and that 66,064 people had voted for strike action. That’s around half of the number balloted and excludes more than 20,000 people who aren’t union members.

Royal Mail said that the CWU had tried to create a political issue rather than focussing on a pay deal which offers 2.5% on basic pay as well as a dividend of GBP 800 and a 50:50 productivity sharing scheme. Colleagues in Parcelforce, the group’s parcel’s division, have already voted to accept a similar pay offer on a recommendation by the CWU.

Read More

Base rate held but many savers still to benefit from previous rate rises

Posted by | Jun 7, 2007 | |

As the Bank of England base rate stays at 5.5 per cent today, the Post Office® reveals it is the only major high-street savings provider1 in the UK to have passed on every interest rate rise in full to all of its variable rate customers in the last year.

Last week, on Monday 4 June, Post Office® customers saw their Instant Saver interest rate rise to 5.75 per cent. This followed the 0.25 per cent base rate rise in May.

And Instant Saver customers will benefit for even longer by the Post Office®’s promise to pass on base rate rises in full until January 2010. This makes Post Office® Instant Saver the UK’s best instant access savings account.

Post Office® Instant Saver also guarantees to remain within 1.0% of the Bank of England base rate for the life of the account and offers six free withdrawals a year with a flat fee of just GBP 1 for future withdrawals.

Instant Saver is available at all of the UK’s 14,000 Post Office® branches, by telephone and online. Withdrawals can be made both at branches and ATMs, offering unrivalled choice and convenience.

Read More

The Needs of Postal Users – Customer Survey 2006 – also Library L13970

Posted by | Jun 6, 2007 | |

Executive Summary
Background
Postwatch, Postcomm, and Royal Mail jointly funded a research project with the aim of determining users’ perceptions of the postal service, and the key needs of postal service stakeholders. This was the first large scale research project attempting to define the needs of users by directly asking residential and business users what their needs were. The results may be very useful for Postwatch in their role as the consumer watchdog, with information about the preferences of postal service users (and potential users) feeding into Postwatch policy and the overall Postwatch remit.

Key Findings
The key findings of the research are reported below, whilst the full set of results can be found on the Postwatch website as part of the research project’s final report.
-The Universal Service Obligation
Although few survey respondents had heard of the Universal Service Obligation, there was widespread belief that all its features were important. The features that were felt to be important were deliveries and collections at least every working day, affordable prices for all, and geographical uniformity of stamp prices.
-Knowledge of Postal Services
Approximately three quarters of respondents were aware that 1st Class mail is expected to be delivered one working day after posting, and 2nd Class 3 days after posting, but most respondents did not know the correct price of 1st or 2nd class stamps. Despite a lack of knowledge of stamp prices, most respondents thought postal services were affordable and good value for money.
-Quality of Service Experience
Many respondents reported problems with their mail in terms of quality of service, with approximately half of all survey respondents reporting problems with lost mail and damaged mail in the previous 12 months. Approximately two thirds of respondents also reported incidents of mail being delivered to the wrong address in the past 12 months. Despite the apparent problems, respondents were overwhelmingly satisfied with Royal Mail’s quality of service, with approximately 9 out of 10 respondents perceiving the service to be very good, quite good or neither good nor bad.
-Collections
Post Boxes and Post Offices are used by most people according to the survey, although the regularity of use differs widely. Callers Offices are also used frequently by residential customers to collect packets and parcels from, but less frequently by businesses. The survey also showed most respondents were very satisfied with the density of post boxes, both in rural and urban areas.
-Deliveries
The research showed deliveries made to the front door of properties were seen as being a valuable asset, with most respondents not willing to lose this level of service even if it meant earlier deliveries or a cheaper postal service. Respondents were also shown to not want any decrease in the number of deliveries made per week, with respondents saying they would be worse off if deliveries were any less frequent than now.
-Collection and Delivery Times
7% ospondents thought the last collection time of their post boxes had changed in the past 12 months, with the majority of changes resulting in earlier collection times. Respondents were generally very satisfied with all elements of the collection process, although they were least satisfied with the opening hours of callers offices. Delivery times were thought to have changed within the past 12 months by approximately 40% ospondents, with the majority of those reporting a change stating that delivery times were now later than before. The research showed that respondents were somewhat worse off if deliveries were made at 12pm rather than 8am, and far worse off if deliveries shifted from 12pm to 4pm or later. Delivery time consistency was measured in terms of the variations in delivery times, with the results showing approximately half of respondents had very consistent delivery times ( /- 30 mins), but a significant proportion had ve

Read More

First-class victory over Royal Mail's early collections

Posted by | Jun 5, 2007 | |

Royal Mail was told yesterday to scrap its policy of last collections at 9am or earlier.

The cost- cutting measure has meant many in rural areas have had to post first-class letters early in the morning to ensure delivery the next day.

But the industry regulator Postcomm has ordered that the last collection for most mail boxes should take place after midday.

Royal Mail is thought to have brought forward the times of last collection at 19,000 of its 116,000 post boxes.

Postcomm has demanded a review of the 7,000 boxes which have a final pick-up time before noon, with a view to switching to later collections.

Some 2,320 boxes have last collections at 9am or earlier.

Although the first of the changes are expected within five weeks some boxes will keep their morning cut-off times.

Earlier final collections are the most unpopular of a range of costsaving measures brought in by Royal Mail to fend off commercial rivals.

The policy has also made it much easier to hit targets for delivering first- class mail the next day.

Delivery times are measured from the moment post is picked up and not from when it is put in the box.

So a letter posted first-class on Monday afternoon – after that day’s last collection – would meet the next – day target when it arrives on Wednesday morning.

Postcomm, which conducted a poll of Royal Mail customers, stopped short of taking legal action and has given Royal Mail a grace period to review and change collection times.

If it fails to do so, the regulator could seek to rewrite Royal Mail’s operating licence to include set times for the last collection of post.

Read More

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

P&P Poll

Loading

What's the future of the postal USO?

Thank you for voting
You have already voted on this poll!
Please select an option!



View ResultsHide Results

Post & Parcel Magazine


Post & Parcel Magazine is our print publication, released 3 times a year. Packed with original content and thought-provoking features, Post & Parcel Magazine is a must-read for those who want the inside track on the industry.

Subscribe to the Magazine

 

Pin It on Pinterest