Tag: Royal Mail

General counsel make their mark: Exel's Evans puts stamp on first Royal Mail in-house post

Posted by | Aug 3, 2006 | |

Former Exel corporate legal director Doug Evans has resurfaced at the Royal Mail, taking up the role of its first ever general counsel.

Evans joined the postal giant in late June having parted company with Exel last March after six years. His departure followed the company’s GBP 3.6bn takeover by German rival Deutsche Post.

The Royal Mail’s legal function was previously headed up by director of legal services Catherine Churchard, who is due to retire later in the year.

A Royal Mail spokesman said the creation of a general counsel post, sitting in the company secretary’s office, was driven by the number of legal issues the company has faced since the postal market was opened up to competition at the start of the year. The change followed a decision by postal regulator Postcomm to open up the market to rivals.

Evans reports to company secretary Jonathan Evans.

Read More

Having a gr8 time…text generation still prefers a postcard though!

Posted by | Aug 1, 2006 | |

Royal Mail predicts a record 135 million postcards will be sent and received this summer.

The UK may be a nation of ‘texters’ but when it comes to showing someone you care while away on holiday, a postcard still trumps the text message for that personal touch. In a recent poll conducted by You Gov in conjunction with Royal Mail, over 68 per cent of people still rate the postcard over a text message.

But the texting culture has influenced what is written on the back of a postcard with over 50 per cent of people now using common “textisms” to say they care. “C U Soon” is now the most popular sign off with other well-known abbreviations such as “R” for “are” and “Gr8” featuring heavily.

Royal Mail expects to deliver 28 million postcards sent from within the UK this year and novelty cards now rank above the great British landmarks/ tourist spots as the cards of choice. The top five cards to send from the UK are:

1) Novelty shaped cards e.g. ice-cream, deckchair, sun, boat
2) Buckingham Palace
3) Double Decker buses
4) Tower of London
5) Blackpool Tower

Read More

Explosive rise of TNT gives Royal Mail a run for its business market

Posted by | Aug 1, 2006 | |

TNT, the Dutch-based parcels and mail group, is poised to increase its challenge to Royal Mail with extended mail and parcels services in its GBP100m-a-year UK business, moving closer to the day when it has its own postmen on the streets.
End-to-end business delivery services are being extended to more major cities after successful trials in Glasgow and Manchester. The acquisition of the parcels deliverer JD Williams – with 2,000 couriers – also provides a platform for growth.
Peter Bakker, chief executive at TNT, revealed the plans after announcing an acceleration in second quarter operating profits, raising full-year expectations.
TNT expects to collect and sort 1.2bn items of mail in Britain this year, mainly for banks and utilities. At present, Royal Mail handles final delivery but the two city trials have encouraged TNT to offer more end-to-end services to business clients.

Read More

Holding the folding : UK prefers cash over plastic on holiday

Posted by | Aug 1, 2006 | |

Holidaymakers are set to splash the cash overseas with bumper currency sales of GBP2.3 billion forecast for this year according to a new Post Office® report. In fact, one in every fifteen pounds of the total GBP34 billion spent overseas this year will be bought from the Post Office®.

Launched today, the report shows cash is still the UK’s number one way to pay abroad. Almost half (47 per cent) prefer to use local currency compared to 33.6 per cent who prefer to “put it on the plastic” using their debit or credit card.

Although Traveller’s Cheques are still popular with 19 per cent of holidaymakers, as plastic becomes more popular they are slowly declining, with sales dropping by almost 12 per cent last year. Despite this, euro Travellers’ Cheque sales grew by 7.7 per cent last year .

Read More

Paying for post by shape and size 'will cause chaos'

Posted by | Jul 31, 2006 | |

The introduction of new postage rates for letters and parcels will cause increased queues at post offices and confusion for consumers, a consumer watchdog claims.

Postwatch said that Pricing in Proportion (Pip) which is being fully introduced next month, will lead to increased pressure on post office counters, where queues are already growing.

The new plan means that customers will be charged for the size and thickness of the letter they are posting, rather than simply its weight.

A campaign to inform customers begins today, with a paper template being posted to every address in Britain.

A Postwatch spokesman said that, in the short-term at least, queues at post offices were likely to become longer as people struggled with the new rules and worked out the price they would need to pay.

“Royal Mail needs to work hard to inform people what is going on,” he said. “We are keeping an eye on how queuing goes in the longer term.”

Read More

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

P&P Poll

Loading

How ready do you feel for the de minimis changes coming in July?

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