Tag: Royal Mail

Royal Mail accused of misleading over price rises

Posted by | Jan 8, 2007 | |

Royal Mail has been accused of misleading the UK public over the scale of its price prices, according to one rival.

Hamilton House Mailings claims that while the Royal Mail’s price rises have been presented by the company as being a simple just above inflation price adjustment, analysis it has done show that the rises are in fact much steeper.

Hamilton House analysed the outcome for a series of typical mailings to 5,000 addresses with a standard 50/50 direct/residue split.

At low weights, it said it found increases in the 3% to 4% range. However, with packet mail the price increases it said were typically between 6% and 7%. When it looked at the heavier packages it found price decreases with the mailing of 5,000 1.4kg packets, resulting in a price decrease of 24%.

Tony Attwood, chairman of Hamilton House, said: “Once again creative teams and mailing teams are going to have to get together to work out the best approach for their customers — and the answers from April are going to be very different from the answers that exist today.

“It really is a great shame that the structure was not sorted out once and for all last August, so that we all knew where we were going.”

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Parcelforce introduces carbon neutral delivery scheme

Posted by | Jan 8, 2007 | |

Royal Mail’s Parcelforce Worldwide business has started an initiative to give its customers the option of offsetting the carbon footprint emitted in the delivery of their parcels.

Parcelforce has calculated the cost of the average amount of carbon emitted per parcel as 10p for UK deliveries and 20p for international deliveries.

Customers booking online have the option to donate half that amount, with Parcelforce contibuting the other half. The money will be invested in a programme run by woodland protection charity The Woodland Trust.

Parcelforce is also working with a number of its account customers who want to achieve carbon-neutral status for their deliveries.

Vanessa Leeson, Parcelforce managing director, said the move is a first in the UK express parcels market, and part of a wider approach by the company to carbon management.

She said: “Our business uses renewable energy in our buildings, bio-diesel in our vehicle fleet and proactively seeks to increase energy efficiency where practical.

“While we’d never force carbon offset onto our customers, many of them are telling us that they will choose the commitment.”

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Carbon-free parcel first for Parcelforce Worldwide

Posted by | Jan 8, 2007 | |

Parcelforce Worldwide is offering its customers a first in the UK express parcels market – the option to deliver their parcel carbon-free.

Customers booking online can now choose to donate 5p per parcel for UK and 10p per parcel for international deliveries when ordering via www.parcelforce.com.

Having calculated the average amount of carbon emitted for each parcel, Parcelforce Worldwide will match all donations and, through their association with The Woodland Trust, invest it in an approved programme to offset greenhouse gases generated during the journey of that parcel.

Managing Director Vanessa Leeson explained that giving customers the option to send their parcel carbon free was part of a wider approach to carbon management.

She said: “Our business uses renewable energy in our buildings, bio-diesel in our vehicle fleet and pro-actively seeks to increase energy efficiency where practical. While we’d never force carbon offset onto our customers, many of them are telling us that they will choose the commitment.”

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Business Post's UK Mail wins contract with UK govt worth 12 mln stg revenue

Posted by | Jan 8, 2007 | |

Business Post Group PLC said its mail company UK Mail, the leading competitor to Royal Mail in downstream access postal services, has been awarded a major new contract by HM Government’s Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) worth 12 mln stg of revenue per annum.

DWP mails 82 million items a year from two distribution centres in the North East and North West of England. With the Royal Bank of Scotland and DWP, Business Post said UK Mail now has two of the three largest mailers in the UK as customers. DWP will become UK Mail’s largest customer by revenue.

The new contract is due to start on Feb 5.

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Rural group backs UK Post Office closure plan

Posted by | Jan 5, 2007 | |

Plans for the reorganisation of the rural postal system that include the closure of 2,500 post offices have been welcomed by a group of rural campaigners.
The plans were announced to Parliament before Christmas by trade and industry secretary Alistair Darling. He said the restructuring was needed “to protect the national network”.
He said a GBP1.7 billion support package would be provided to maintain GBP150 million-a-year payments to the rural post office network until 2011. In addition, up to 4,000 fee-free cash machines will be rolled out to help customers in areas hit by the closures, he said.
To offset the closures, he said the Post Office would set up 500 “innovative outlets” for small, remote communities, including “mobile post offices and services in village halls, community centres and pubs”.
Sylvia Brown, chief executive of Action for Communities in Rural England, said the present system of post office support was unsustainable. She said: “We want the post office subsidy transformed into a contribution towards a genuine investment plan to help retain access to a range of services within rural communities.
“We are pleased that the minister recognises the future of post office services may lie in combined delivery with pubs, shops or village halls hosting services and sharing premises to reduce overheads.”

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