Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt has announced clearance of the completed acquisition by March UK Ltd (March) of the home shopping and home delivery businesses of GUS plc (GUS). The Competition Commission’s (CC’s) report into the merger is published.
Read MoreTrade union chiefs have vowed to oppose planned job losses at the Royal Mail sorting office in Belfast after it emerged that up to 150 jobs are at risk.
Staff were called in by managers yesterday and told that changes were planned in the way undeliverable mail was to be treated, and jobs must go. The job losses are planned following a recent Royal Mail review which found that the handling of undeliverable, return to sender and forwarded mail at the National Return Letter Centre in Tomb Street currently costs the company GBP10m each year.
A Royal Mail spokesman confirmed that staff numbers would be cut as part of a review of procedures at the centre.
The Dutch government has offered to fully liberalize its postal services by 2007, two years ahead of the EU timetable, provided that Britain and Germany do so too.
“The economy ministry wishes to completely open the postal service in the Netherlands to competition by 2007 on condition that Germany and Britain also open their markets by that date,” minister Laurens-Jan Brinkhorst said in a statement. The Dutch cabinet is to study the proposal before sending a report to parliament.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive branch, has set 2009 as the target for the 15 members of the European Union to open their mail services to competition.
Read MoreRoyal Mail’s prospects will become clearer over the next few months as the postal market opens up to meaningful competition for the first time.
Talks between Royal Mail and its rival UK Mail will set a precedent on how much private sector operators will have to pay to use the postal network. The figure for this “access charging” will be crucial in determining how attractive the market is to new entrants.
Companies such as Deutsche Post and TPG, of the Netherlands, are keen to start delivering business mail in Britain. But Royal Mail will try to hold on to some of this lucrative trade to offset losses from its universal postal service.
Read MoreRoyal Mail’s prospects will become clearer over the next few months as the postal market opens up to meaningful competition for the first time.
Talks between Royal Mail and its rival UK Mail will set a precedent on how much private sector operators will have to pay to use the postal network. The figure for this “access charging” will be crucial in determining how attractive the market is to new entrants.
Companies such as Deutsche Post and TPG, of the Netherlands, are keen to start delivering business mail in Britain. But Royal Mail will try to hold on to some of this lucrative trade to offset losses from its universal postal service.
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