Progress in the reliability of letter deliveries has been “undermined” by last month’s unofficial strikes that led to a huge backlog of post, the Royal Mail said.
First-class letter reliability reached 92.7% in the three months to September, ahead of the 92.5% target and the best performance for 15 years.
But chief executive Adam Crozier warned that the wildcat strikes had put the year-end targets, taken next March, at risk.
Read MorePostcomm has asked Royal Mail to communicate more effectively with customers of its Mailsort business service and to work with Postwatch, the consumer body, to settle grievances. The recommendations follow an investigation by Postcomm after the Office of Fair Trading referred a super-complaint from Postwatch to it. Postwatch was concerned that Royal Mail may have been abusing its dominant position in the Mailsort market, significantly harming the interests of consumers. Postcomm gathered evidence to see whether or not there were sufficient grounds to investigate a potential licence breach. However, Postcomm’s investigation did not find sufficient evidence to give it reasonable grounds to suspect an infringement of Royal Mail’s licence or to warrant further investigation under the Competition Act 1998. But Postcomm did find that there was room for improvement in Royal Mail’s communications with its Mailsort customers and its handling of their complaints, and has recommended that Royal Mail work with Postwatch to improve this part of its operation.
Read MoreThe Sunday Telegraph reports today that the views of Nigel Stapleton, Postcomm’s Chairman-designate, ‘will set him on a collision course with the European Commission’. This is unlikely! The British Government (including Postcomm) oppose the imposition of full-rate VAT on stamps. However, a draft EC Directive allows there to be a reduced rate which could, in the UK, be a pain-free alternative to the current situation in which Royal Mail’s customers pay hidden VAT of around 3%. This is because Royal Mail pass on to their customers the VAT that the company pays but cannot reclaim. It may be, therefore, that the introduction a low VAT rate might level the competitive playing field without increasing the price of a stamp. This issue will be explored in some detail in a consultative document which Postcomm intends to publish within the next few weeks.
Read MoreROYAL MAIL needs to modernise to become profitable and meet regulatory targets, the new industry regulator said yesterday as talks continued between the postal organisation and unions over changes to working practices.
Nigel Stapleton, chairman of Uniq, the convenience food company, and a former chairman of Reed Elsevier, the publishing group, and Cordiant, the advertising business, will take up his appointment as the second postal regulator in January.
Read MoreLicensed postal operators other than Royal Mail will be able to carry any mail they wish from 31 October, following a determination on that day by Postcomm. The determination is in response to escalating unofficial strike action in London and some surrounding areas. The determination will enable four long-term licence holders to provide unrestricted mail services to any customer and one interim licence holder to provide a wider range of services to existing customers. Under normal circumstances, competitors of Royal Mail are limited by their licences to providing relatively large bulk mail services for business customers. Today’s determination removes these restrictions for a period. Holders of long-term licences are Hays Commercial Services Ltd, TPG Post (UK) Ltd, UK Mail Ltd and Express Ltd. The interim licence holder concerned is TNT UK Ltd.
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