Following the recent scandal over the discovery of dumped mail, it will be a brave direct mail company that recommends new delivery methods in preference to post offices. This is a pity as there are safe routes to shopping around for cost efficient alternatives to your national carrier.
Read MoreA ROYAL Mail experiment to charge businesses for early postal deliveries has flopped, with just one firm out of 36,000 agreeing to pay the pounds 10-a-week fee.
The result came from the first of 14 nationwide trials – cutting out the second post – which was launched in Plymouth, Devon, three weeks ago.
And yesterday, Gary Hepburn, of mail watchdog group Postwatch, predicted the Royal Mail would be lucky to get more than one business in the whole country to pay up.
B2C delivery could take a step into the future with new ‘failed delivery’ trials being run by Royal Mail, Parcelforce Worldwide and Nottingham City Council. If the trials are successful it could not only give the post and parcel operators the competitive edge in the UK market, but also the psychological lift the companies have been looking for.
In an innovative new venture, Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide are trialing services aimed at putting an end to the ongoing problems of failed delivery. The project, named ‘Not-In-Home’, is being run in conjunction with Nottingham City Council, and is likely to include over 40,000 residents in the area.
The threat of the first national strike by postal staff for 30 years came closer yesterday when dates were set for a ballot of 180,000 workers in a row over jobs.
Members of the Communication Workers Union will start voting on August 27, with the result due on September 12.
The union has claimed that the employment conditions of 7,000 cleaners and engineers due to transfer from Consignia to a joint venture with Balfour Beatty will worsen.
General secretary Bill Hayes said loyal workers were having their pensions threatened and job security put at risk.
Any strike would be the first involving delivery, counters and parcels staff since 1971 when there was a six-week walkout.
BUSINESSMAN Andy Loynes today blasted the Royal Mail for slapping a 20 per cent increase on the price of pre-paid envelopes, which are popular with small firms.
The controversy comes just weeks after postal chiefs unveiled plans to charge companies £14 a week for early deliveries. They later announced a re-think, following protests.
Now Consignia, the Royal Mail’s owner, has enraged small business bosses by raising the cost of packets of 100 pre-paid envelopes from £29.60 to £35.50.
A range of other products used by companies has gone up by between one and five per cent.
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