Tag: Royal Mail

Lovells helps complete UK Royal Mail WH Smith deal

Posted by | May 6, 2007 | |

A team from Lovells has worked alongside Royal Mail’s in-house legal team to complete a major transaction for Royal Mail transferring the operation of 76 Post Office branches to WHSmith. This follows the successful trial of six Post Offices in WHSmith stores last year.

Following the deal the Post Office will continue to run 373 Crown Post Offices in UK towns and cities alongside the branches operated by WHSmith.

The Lovells team working on the transaction was led by partner Nicholas Cheffings with associates Sahira Khwaja and India Forsyth. The Royal Mail in-house team was led by General Counsel Doug Evans with assistants Jessica Madron and Patricia Jones.

Speaking afterwards, Doug Evans commented:

“This is a very important development for the Royal Mail Group, serving to underpin the Post Office’s long-term commitment to safeguard its presence on the high street and in shopping centres across the United Kingdom.

“We have worked very closely with Lovells on this transaction and are extremely pleased with the advice they have given us. The deal enables us to work with a complementary, respected retailer giving us, and our customers, a high quality, commercially viable plan for the future.”

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Royal Mail are on course for a crippling national strike over pay

Posted by | May 5, 2007 | |

Royal Mail are on course for a crippling national strike over pay.

Union leaders are expected to reject a new offer from management next week and press ahead with plans for a ballot.

Last week, a union memo said bosses were offering a one-off sum of GBP 550 in return for agreement on cuts to services worth GBP 350million a year.

Now Royal Mail have backed down and offered a 2.5 per cent rise in pay.

But the Communication Workers Union leadership are set to reject the deal – worth GBP 7.75 a week before tax.

They argue that, with inflation at 4.8 per cent, the offer is a pay cut in real terms.

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WHSmith and Post Office a perfect match

Posted by | May 4, 2007 | |

The solution to the dire state of the UK’s town centre Post Offices is to fully merge them into WHSmith. The idea of switching 70 Crown Office branches to the high street chain, but leaving 373 to fend for themselves makes no sense.

Without a clearer strategy and better management, the money spent refurbishing these outlets will be wasted.

Transferring 15 outlets to different retail partners makes no sense. It will confuse customers and erode the natural synergies that exist. It is like finding your natural partner in life and then playing away when their back is turned.

When an ugly man marries a plain woman, the result is rarely a beautiful child. That said, WHSmith has been performing better of late. While I am still never quite sure what merchandise mix to expect when I go into a store, there is a sense that it is getting there under chief executive Kate Swann.

Unfortunately, I know exactly what to expect when I go into a high street Post Office. What upsets me most is the huge wasted retail opportunity; bare walls, unkempt ambience and demotivated staff. What most upsets customers are the lengthy, snake-like queues.

Someone once told me that the Post Office is headed by a renowned and capable retailer. They were mistaken. With one of the richest asset bases and strongest brands in the UK, the counters business lost GBP 111 million last year on sales down 14 per cent to GBP 838 million. Management whinge that they would have been profitable had it not been for the cost of carrying the uneconomic part of the rural network.

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Post Office HR chief moves to Bradford & Bingley

Posted by | May 2, 2007 | |

an Anderson has left the Post Office where he was executive director HR to go Bradford & Bingley as HR director.

After four years at the Post Office, Anderson decided he wanted a fresh challenge.

The role at Bradford and Bingley has been newly created for Anderson, and he aims to drive the people strategy of the bank and to develop staff talent to meet its business plan.

Anderson, said: “We are looking at how we make our remuneration package, including benefits, most appropriate for our people.”

Before his role at the Post Office, Anderson was HR director at Axa Insurance.

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Parcelforce reveals crucial role of IT change in turning loss into profit

Posted by | May 1, 2007 | |

An IT-based streamlining program has helped Parcelforce turn around initial losses of GBP 193m to make a profit of GBP 18m over the past 27 months, Vanessa Leeson, managing director of the delivery company, told the spring meeting of the BCS Elite group.

Following its split from Royal Mail in 1992, Parcelforce embarked on a series of major IT changes to cut costs, improve the delivery rate and reduce its headcount. Leeson told the BCS IT directors group that simplification was key, with every aspect of the organization’s systems subject to rationalization. The network was downsized and the company reduced the total number of systems used from 47 to 21.

A key project was to increase the functionality in the handheld devices used by delivery staff and ensure that they were integrated with the company’s streamlined IT set-up. As part of this, the company introduced a policy for all handhelds, which run bespoke software, to be upgraded every three years.

The IT team also developed a strategy to use simpler systems and make the business more web-focused, said Leeson. It learnt from other organizations along the way, including the military with its “department in a box” mobile system and its satellite technology. This led to a web-enabled parcel tracking system, which lets Parcelforce check that a parcel has arrived at its destination via text messaging. “IT should never be the reason to lose or fail to win business,” said Leeson.

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