Tag: Royal Mail

UK tourists will be returning with more than just a suntan this year, according to the Post Office®, which estimates that GBP920 million in leftover holiday cash will be brought home.

Many people are not doing anything with their leftover foreign cash, with 33 million (87.4 per cent) admitting to leaving it in the sock drawer or biscuit tin.

And we are bringing back more holiday pocket money than ever – an average of GBP27.78 per person, which is almost two thirds (63 per cent) more than in 2004 (GBP17.35).

Kevin McAdam, Head of Travel Services at the Post Office®, said: “It’s easy to stash your leftover foreign notes and coins in a drawer when you get home from your travels and forget about it. But with one in five of us claiming to bring back GBP50 or more, it’s shocking to discover that so much money is being wasted.”

The Post Office® found that people fail to change back their foreign cash because they simply forget about it (seven per cent). And a quarter (25.6 per cent) don’t think they have enough to make changing it back to pounds worthwhile, despite nearly one in five (18.9 per cent) bringing home the equivalent of GBP50 or more.

Gary Hockey-Morley, Marketing Director for Abbey’s Insurance and Asset Management division, has been appointed Marketing Director of the Post Office, it was announced today.

Reporting to Alan Cook, the Post Office’s Managing Director, Mr Hockey-Morley will take up the appointment at the end of October.

“I’m delighted Gary is joining the Post Office,” said Mr Cook. “He has a proven track record in marketing and brand development – key skills crucial for the Post Office as it competes in a market where its customers have a growing choice.

“Gary will manage all of the Post Office’s marketing activities. He will, in effect, be the customer’s representative in the decisions the Post Office takes about its offering in the market.”

Mr Cook added: “Simon Carter, who has been holding the top marketing post in the Post Office on an acting basis, has decided to leave the Post Office. I am grateful for his contribution and wish him all the best for the future.”

Mr Hockey-Morley said: “I’m very much looking forward to working for the Post Office to ensure it competes effectively while continuing to play a key role in serving communities across the UK.”

Clients are getting to grips with Royal Mail’s new mail pricing regime, pricing in proportion (PiP), as the industry enters its first full month under the new rules, but remain concerned about their effect on creativity.

Speaking to Marketing Direct just before size-based pricing was introduced, industry figures said that despite months of preparation, their main concern was the standardisation of mail packs and the prospect of lower response rates.

Andrew Jones, head of direct marketing at the Royal British Legion, said the changes posed a creative and financial challenge. The charity’s annual Remembrance Cross mailing is now classed as a larger letter owing to its thickness.

“We know it works well so we’ve just had to accept the increase in price,” said Jones. “It’s a small increase per pack but, when you’re working with charity direct mail, every cost is important.” He added that the extra postage costs would eat into the legion’s income.

Iain Clarke, creative services director at Hicklin Slade & Partners, whose clients include Honda, said the new pricing formats would restrict creativity. Honda’s standard welcome pack, for example, is currently mailed in a large box. Clarke said that if another one is produced, it is likely to use a new format.

“Honda’s creative philosophy is ‘the power of dreams’, which is about doing what others wouldn’t do. PiP seems to fly in the face of that,” Clarke said.

Royal Mail is promoting the changes as a creative opportunity. According to Antony Miller, head of media development at Royal Mail, PiP brings mail into line with other media, citing 20-second TV spots and newspaper pages as constraints that other industries work within successfully.

“You can have any shape within the (new) boundaries, in the same way you can within other media,” he said.

Postal chiefs in Scotland were last night delighted by figures which show Royal Mail is beating its targets for next-day delivery of first-class letters.
Official independent figures for April to June this year reveal that Royal Mail exceeded the postcode area targets of 91.5% for next-day delivered first-class mail, which is set by postal regulator Postcomm, in all 13 mainland postcode areas.
Scotland has 16 postcode areas but Orkney, Shetland and Hebrides are exempt from the regulator’s target because of their geographical remoteness.