Tag: UK

Royal Mail misses delivery target

Posted by | May 30, 2008 | |

Royal Mail has said it missed its key target for delivering first-class post on time in the 2007-8 financial year because of industrial action.

About 85 pct of letters arrived the next day, missing the 93 pct target.

The watchdog Postwatch said the strikes had “blown Royal Mail off course”, but it complained the service had not recovered quickly enough.

It argued that poor service should affect executives’ bonuses. Last year, the chief executive was paid GBP 3m.

The delivery of second-class letters was more reliable, according to the figures released by Royal Mail, but also fell short of the required level.

More than 95 pct of the second-class post arrived on time, compared with a target of 99 pct.

Only standard parcels beat their target for the year, with 90.4 pct arriving on time.

The company said it was working hard to improve its service and “restore the record levels seen before last year’s dispute”.
In a postcode-based list published by Postwatch, nine out of 10 letters were delivered on time last year in Twickenham, Kingston upon Thames, Luton, St Albans, north-west London and Canterbury.
While in Stoke-on-Trent, Colchester, south-west London, Oxford, Chelmsford and Dundee, only around four out of five first class letters were delivered on time.

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Royal Mail failed 75 per cent of its service targets

Posted by | May 30, 2008 | |

Official figures published last night reveal that the organisation missed nine of the 12 minimum service levels.
The reliability of the first-class delivery service fell to 85.2per cent. This was below the organisation’s target which requires that at least 93per cent of first class mail is delivered by the following day.
Royal Mail also missed delivery targets for second class post, special delivery and standard parcels, the cornerstones of the service.
However, it is clear that the business missed the crucial targets, a failure condemned by the official consumer body PostWatch.
A series of strikes over pay, pensions and working hours caused huge disruption to services during last summer.
PostWatch said Royal Mail, under Mr Crozier, had been slow to put in place a recovery plan once the dispute was settled.
Many had to find other ways to communicate. This will have reduced postal volumes, which will in turn damage Royal Mail’s financial stability for years to come.
Average daily volumes are down from 84 million items to about 80 million.
Thousands of post offices have already been closed with more to go.
The second delivery has been scrapped, while the first delivery of the day has been moved back to the afternoon for millions of homes and businesses.
At the same time collections from post boxes have been cut and Sunday collections have been scrapped.

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Royal Mail 2007-08 Quality of Service report (UK)

Posted by | May 29, 2008 | |

Figures released today by Royal Mail confirm that, as previously announced, industrial action last year damaged services for postal customers. However the 2007-08 Quality of Service report also shows that the large majority of mail, including all bulk business mail, was performing at target or above target levels as the financial year ended in March 2008.

Ninian Wilson, Royal Mail’s Operations Director, said, “The immediate objective for everyone working in the business is to deliver further improvements in Quality of Service to customers and restore the record levels seen before last year’s dispute.”

92.2 pct of First Class letters were delivered the working day after posting in the final Quarter of the year, compared to 79.3 pct in the third Quarter and 78.4 pct in the second Quarter, when industrial action first disrupted services. The dispute meant the full year First Class performance fell below target at 85.2 pct.

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Bristol And Somerset Post Office® Branches – Decisions Announced

Posted by | May 29, 2008 | |

Post Office Ltd today announced decisions on the future of Post Office® branches across Bristol and Somerset following a six week public consultation which ended on 9 April. Post Office® services will be provided through a network of branches, which supports the national accessibility criteria introduced by the Government and ensures that over 99% of Bristol and Somerset’s population will either see no change to their existing branch or will remain within one mile (by road distance) of an alternative branch.

The plan confirmed today means that 62 branches will close in Bristol and Somerset with the first closures scheduled to take place in late June 2008. These branches were detailed in the Area Plan proposal published on 26 February 2008.

Post Office branches at Bear Flat, Lower Weston and West End originally proposed for closure will remain open, following a review of the issues raised during consultation. Details of any branches proposed for closure in place of those that are to remain open will be announced shortly. The new proposal would be subject to a period of public consultation.

The replacement of seven branches by outreach solutions was also confirmed today.

During the six week local public consultation, Post Office Ltd received around 3800 responses and attended 18 meetings with customers and their representatives to understand their concerns. All information provided by customers formed part of the final decision regarding each affected branch.

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Wincanton moves into aerospace

Posted by | May 29, 2008 | |

Wincanton is buying Product Support Holdings Ltd (PSHL), which offers logistics services to defence and aerospace markets, in a deal worth up to GBP30m.

This is Wincanton’s second bid of the month. Only a couple of weeks ago it Wincanton announced that it wanted to buy TDG. It has been given until 20th June by the City Takeover Panel to decide whether it will go forward with an offer.

PSHL operates from 25 sites, mostly in the UK, and employs 422 people. Customers include AgustaWestland, BAE Systems and Honeywell.

Its core expertise lies in the management of time-critical spare parts and components. Its services include specialised storage, protective packaging design and manufacture, security screening and distribution. Wincanton believes there is scope to develop these areas of expertise into new sectors. PSHL has already had initial success with new business wins in the petroleum industry.

Wincanton is paying GBP27m initially with up to a further GBP3m payable subject to the financial performance of PSHL in the period to 31 March 2009. In the year to 31 March 2008, PSHL reported sales of GBP19.4m, and EBITDA of GBP3.6m.

This acquisition is the latest in a series of in-fill acquisitions designed to boost Wincanton’s profitability, and broaden its business base.

Graeme McFaull, Wincanton’s chief executive, said: “PSHL’s market-leading expertise, in new industries for Wincanton, will provide a further exciting growth opportunity.”

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