Tag: Royal Mail

Government to grant Royal Mail’s wish list

Posted by | Nov 13, 2005 | |

The Government is set to inject around pounds 2bn to help plug the Royal Mail’s gaping pension-fund deficit. Bosses at the state-owned postal service are understood to be confident that the Government has listened to their concerns about the pounds 4bn black hole in the final-salary pension scheme and that it will help out with the cash injection. In addition, although no final decision has been made, the Government is expected to back Royal Mail chairman Allan Leighton’s controversial plan to hand over 20 per cent of the business to its staff, and to green- light an investment programme of nearly pounds 2bn. The Royal Mail wants the money to improve sorting systems. It is also likely that Postcomm will soften its stance on price controls.

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Royal Mail plans PIP blitz to all UK homes

Posted by | Nov 11, 2005 | |

Royal Mail is planning one of the largest marketing campaigns in its 350-year history, thought to be worth nearly GBP15m, for the launch of its controversial pricing in proportion (PIP) scheme. The push, to target both businesses and consumers, will include a PIP ‘template’, allowing customers to work out exactly how much they will pay before going to the Post Office. Every UK household – about 26 million – is to be targeted. The campaign will feature a major direct marketing blitz. A Royal Mail spokesman says: “We will be using a mix of media to promote what is possibly the biggest change in the postal service’s history. We have already started communicating with more than 200,000 businesses, so that they can prepare for the new pricing structure.”

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TNT advocates liberalisation of postal market – level playing field with UK and Germany prerequisite for further liberalisation

Posted by | Nov 11, 2005 | |

TNT has taken note of the Council of Ministers’ decision to request advice from the Council of State regarding the proposal for a new postal act. In light of the proposed full liberalisation of the postal market in the Netherlands, the present Dutch Postal Act will need to be amended. TNT is a proponent of postal liberalisation, provided a level playing field is created in Europe. According to the Postal Memorandum, liberalisation in the Netherlands will have to keep in step with the rate of liberalisation and actual competitive opportunities in Germany and the United Kingdom. TNT has established that a level playing field does not exist at present. Compared to Royal Mail and Deutsche Post, new entrants to the UK and German postal markets are still disadvantaged by the VAT system. Other issues include licensing conditions, anti-competitive regulation of network access and rates, and market obstruction by both national postal companies. These problems do not exist in the Dutch market, which means that competition is already developing rapidly.

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GeoPost UK challenges Royal Mail with two-day mailplus service

Posted by | Nov 10, 2005 | |

GeoPost UK has become the latest firm to challenge Royal Mail’s bulk mailing service, with its new operation, mailplus. The service, which the firm claims is up to 10% cheaper than Royal Mail’s Mailsort 2, is for mailings of more than 4,000 items. “It will also has the same kind of sortation levels as Mailsort, so there are 120, 700 and 1,200 services,” said mailplus general manager Jon Wilkins. “As a result, it’s very easy for users to switch.” Smethwick, West Midlands-based mailplus’ two-day offering sits between first and second class.
Mailplus uses sister firm Parceline’s network of 1,704 vehicles to collect pre-sorted mail and take it to Parceline’s West Midlands “superhub”. It is automatically sorted and then delivered to one of the Royal Mail’s 69 delivery centres around the UK for “final mile” delivery, enabling it to offer 100% UK coverage.

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DMA View on: Facts on… Royal Mail review

Posted by | Nov 8, 2005 | |

The furore over the impending shake-up to Royal Mail’s pricing under its PiP (Pricing in Proportion) initiative has dominated the headlines in recent months. So it’s little wonder that its Price and Service Quality Review has slipped under the wire.

But the proposals put forward by Postcomm in June this year to regulate Royal Mail’s prices and the quality of its service are of real importance.

In its consultation document, Postcomm proposed a price cap on products for business customers of RPI (retail price index) minus two per cent per year. This means that an annual inflation rate of 2.5 per cent would freeze average prices – good news for the industry.

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