Tag: Royal Mail

Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier says the postal operator will scrap most of its business and consumer products as part of a major operational overhaul over the next 18 months. Only first and second class services will escape the axe. Crozier has announced that the postal provider will cease distribution of any products currently available by January 2007. Speaking at last week’s Postcomm forum, Making the Postal Market Work for Customers, Crozier stated: “We are currently in the process of reinventing all our products, particularly on the business side. “Most of them were developed around 15 years ago, and were based around what we do, rather than what our customers wanted.” Crozier also said he has seen first drafts of potential new products, which will be offered to customers for consultation before Royal Mail approaches Postcomm for approval later this year.

Alan Johnson, the Secretary of state for Trade and Industry, is to appoint a special committee to review Royal Mail’s future. Mr Johnson is considering potential candidates to chair the committee, and an official announcement is expected within a fortnight. The committee would consider the impact of competition, Royal Mail’s plans to improve profitability and the future of the Post Office network, a well-placed source said. The review, promised in the Labour manifesto, is a prelude to the postal market being fully opened to competition in 2006.