A postal experiment which cut deliveries to one a day in parts of Merseyside has been branded a shambles.
Royal Mail officials have put plans to introduce the scheme across the country on hold, after major problems with the pilot programme in St Helens.
Union representatives have been holding a series of meetings with Royal Mail management after what they describe as three months of “absolute chaos”.
Read MoreHays, the UK’s main rival to the Royal Mail, is threatening to sue over the Royal Mail’s exemption from as much as GBP500m (E785m) of value added tax (Vat). Hays and the Royal Mail’s other competitors including Business Post, Dutch operator TNT and the German carrier Deutsche Post are upset that they have to pay Vat on their business post services which compete with the mail, which is so far excluded from paying it.
Read MoreRoyal Mail Group’s Chairman, Allan Leighton, said today the first signs of financial stability had emerged in the interim results for the first half of the year. In the six months to the end of September 2002, the company made a trading loss of £147 million, £72 million less – a 33% improvement – compared to the first half of the previous financial year. Losses amounted to £1.1 million a day, compared to a £1.7 million daily loss in the first half last year, and an average of £1.2 million a day in the whole of last year.
Read MoreThe postal regulator Postcomm is set to climb down over price controls on the Royal Mail after warnings that its proposals could put the organisation out of business.
Martin Stanley, the chief executive of Postcomm, said yesterday that he expected the regulator to come up with a modified set of proposals which would be acceptable to Royal Mail.
Allan Leighton, the Royal Mail chairman, claims the price proposals as they stand would cut its revenues by £460m and force the organisation to default on a £3bn loan agreement with the Government.
Read MoreA threatened postal strike was averted yesterday when Securicor withdrew plans to buy the Royal Mail’s cash-handling business.
Read More
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.
