Royal Mail’s regulated compensation scheme for items delayed in the post comes fully into force from January 1 04. The company has already implemented most of the new arrangements (from October 6 2003) in line with regulator Postcomm’s determination. Royal Mail is one of the few postal companies in the world to pay compensation for delay to mail.
Read MoreRoyal Mail has welcomed the decision by the Communications Workers Union’s Executive Committee to recommend the company’s 14.5% pay offer linked to major changes. The company reached an agreement with the union’s negotiating team on 12 December.
“We’ve got real agreement and real commitment to change and to the substantial pay increases which reward those changes. That means we can all get on with improving the service we offer to our customers,” said Chief Executive Adam Crozier.
Read MoreRoyal Mail and Business Post shocked the postal regulator yesterday by agreeing to an eleventh hour deal on access pricing. The companies, which have been wrangling for nearly two years over how much Business Post must pay to access the so-called “final mile” of Royal Mail’s delivery network, announced they had signed heads of terms on the issue. However, the details of the deal are likely to remain confidential until January. The news came as a surprise to Graham Corbett, the outgoing chairman of postal regulator Postcomm. He had been due to publish a decision on access pricing tomorrow, after the two companies had asked the regulator to mediate on the issue. “This is like being on the courtroom steps,” he said. “They have suddenly found themselves thinking that they don’t want a deal imposed on them by a judge or a regulator.”
Read MoreBusiness Post signs access deal with Royal Mail
Read MorePeter Carr, chairman of postal watchdog Postwatch, said: “It is good news that UK Mail and Royal Mail have reached an outline agreement – we hope that this will result in a full agreement by the end of January. “However, the regulator was due to announce a decision in just two days’ time and this would set a standard for other companies wishing to compete in the UK postal market.
It is important that Postcomm publishes this information as planned so that other operators can proceed now to make decisions on market entry. More than one competitor is needed to provide choice to customers.”
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