Tag: Royal Mail

Royal Mail seeks new price deal to compete with TNT

Posted by | Mar 4, 2007 | |

The UK postal regulator is expected to meet Royal Mail executives in the coming weeks to discuss ways of easing the group’s financial troubles, The Observer reported.

Royal Mail’s interim profits have slumped to 22 mln stg from over 100 mln stg.

The Observer said PostComm officials will examine whether arrangements that allow rival distributors such as TNT and DHL to compete for bulk mail business should be altered to give Royal Mail more pricing flexibility.

Licensed operators that carry bulk mail from companies such as banks, utilities and government are allowed to use Royal Mail’s local delivery network for a charge of 13 pence an item currently, the report said.

PostComm figures show that in the first two years of competition from 2004, the Royal Mail’s market share fell by 3 pct, The Observer said. However, Royal Mail claims the figure has risen to more than 10 pct in the past year.

The report said the group wants to be allowed to lower prices to compete. It can do this, but it must also maintain the margin available to competitors.

Royal Mail told The Observer this allows rivals to continue to undercut its prices as their costs fall.

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Royal Mail management review on hold

Posted by | Mar 4, 2007 | |

The Royal Mail, which last week called for a 6p hike in stamp prices, has shelved a controversial management shake-up.
Insiders had said the state-controlled group was looking to introduce new pay scales and positions, meaning staff would have been forced to reapply for their own jobs. The Amicus union was known to be concerned, and told The Independent on Sunday last autumn that it was seeking meetings with senior management over the issue.
However, Royal Mail, which is striving to reduce costs in the face of stiffer competition, has decided to shelve the review while it focuses on investing fresh funds in the business. The Government has pledged to provide more than GBP 2bn, a large portion of which will be used to modernise sorting machinery.

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USPS upgrades international products with alliance partners

Posted by | Mar 2, 2007 | |

The US Postal Service (USPS) aims to grow its international business with guaranteed products offered through the ‘Kahala Postal Group’ (KPG) of selected international postal operators, a top official told CEP-Research in an interview. Royal Mail and Spain’s Correos have just agreed to join the six-strong group.

The USPS is putting a stronger focus on its international business than in the past, and aims to target small US firms for their international express mail and deferred parcel business, Paul Vogel, managing director global business and senior vice president, said on the sidelines of this week’s World Mail & Express Logistics Middle East, Africa & South Asia conference in Dubai. He took charge of the newly-created Global Business unit in summer 2006.

Britain’s Royal Mail and Spain’s Correos have just agreed to join the KPG alliance, Vogel said. The fundamental aim was to expand the alliance to other postal operators in Europe and elsewhere as they upgraded their performance standards to be able to provide guaranteed services. “ I believe most Posts can improve their service,” Vogel commented. But he added: “If a post cannot promise visibility and service, then I need an alternative.”

Although the Kahala members had a reasonably balanced flow of items, there were no plans to invest in any postal air network, Vogel stressed. USPS has a long-term agreement with FedEx for its international uplift, and uses both FedEx and UPS alongside commercial airlines within the USA.

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Royal Mail price proposals ''could boost direct marketing''

Posted by | Mar 1, 2007 | |

Proposals from Royal Mail to give it greater control over the prices it charges could see greater amounts of direct marketing being delivered, a leading economist has said.

Speaking to the Telegraph, Ian Senior said a bid by Royal Mail to increase domestic postal charges and reduce business post charges could see marketers being able to afford more direct mail shots.

Prices are currently set until 2010, but company´s chief executive Adam Crozier is pushing regulator Postcomm to completely deregulate charges.

“I think it would have an impact on direct marketing because it is all about trying to keep costs down. If the cost goes down by one or two pence per item, then the volume could go up,” Mr Senior told the Telegraph.

“If prices fall, it is possible that the Royal Mail will get a bigger market share of direct marketing, but it doesn´t mean that the volume will go up,” added a spokesperson from the Direct Marketing Association.

Royal Mail claims that falling profits on business post is forcing it to seek changes to current fees, as it says it must both be more competitive in this area and charge more from domestic customers.

The regulated postal service still controls virtually all the mail delivered in Britain.

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Royal Mail’s first class service to customers

Posted by | Feb 28, 2007 | |

Royal Mail’s latest independent performance report shows postmen and women are continuing to deliver target-beating service to customers.

From April to the beginning of December 2006, stamped First Class mail beat its 93.0% target with 94.1% arriving the next working day, while Second Class mail also beat its 98.5% target, with a 99.0% performance over the same period.

Mail services used by larger businesses also exceeded their targets during the first three quarters of the 2006-07 financial year. These included Royal Mail’s Mailsort bulk business mail services, Printed Postage Impression (PPI) items, and the Presstream service for magazine mailings.

Royal Mail’s Standard Parcel service recorded a performance of 94.6% between April and the beginning of December 2006 – well above its 90.0% target. Special Delivery met its 99.0% target over the same period.

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