Tag: UK

Royal Mail loses another Human Resources Director as Kevin Green walks (UK)

Posted by | Feb 5, 2008 | |

Royal Mail has lost its second high-profile human resources (HR) director in a matter of weeks with Kevin Green’s surprise departure from the organisation.

Green, people and organisational development director for the letters division, is understood to have left suddenly late last month. His exit follows group HR director Tony McCarthy’s move to British Airways (BA) in November last year.

Green joined Royal Mail in October 2003 as chief learning officer, moving into the director role in September 2004. Before joining Royal Mail, he was managing director of HR consultancy Qtab.

Despite recent industrial relations problems, Green boosted his reputation among the profession during his time at Royal Mail by steering through major changes. The company reduced its HR spend by GBP 57m in two years as part of a massive organisational overhaul, slashing headcount in the HR function and improving sickness absence rates.

Royal Mail confirmed Green’s departure and that Dale Haddon, previously group talent director, had replaced him.

The likelihood of Green reuniting with his former boss at BA is small. Insiders have claimed the two men had a difficult working relationship, and clashed on more than one occasion.

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Post Office launches new Christmas Club with ‘bonus’ for members

Posted by | Feb 4, 2008 | |

Customers joining the new Post Office® Christmas Club will receive a booklet of special offers worth at least GBP 100 to redeem in selected retail partners from November 2008.

The Christmas Club is now available at all 14,000 Post Office® branches nationwide offering customers a convenient way to budget for Christmas 2008.

We each spend an average of GBP 393 on Christmas presents alone, and according to research conducted by YouGov for the Post Office® many of us spend more than we can afford.

Forty three per cent said they felt pressured to overspend, and 24 per cent admitted they would still be paying for Christmas at Easter.

Planning and budgeting is the solution suggested by 83 per cent of the survey, but only 29 per cent agreed they set a Christmas spending budget and stuck to it.

With the Post Office® Christmas Club you can plan ahead, making pre-payments from just GBP 5 over the counter at any Post Office® branch using a special Christmas Club payment card.

From 1 November the card is unlocked, enabling customers to use it to buy goods and services directly at retailers, or to purchase retail gift vouchers. The maximum individual payment is GBP 500, up to a total of GBP 1,000 per card per annum.

Each club member will receive a great bonus booklet of at least GBP 100 in special offers with selected retail partners – a significant benefit compared to current rates available from high street savings account.

Post Office® marketing director Gary Hockey-Morley said: “As one of the UK’s most trusted brands with an unparalleled retail network, we are responding to the need for a convenient way for people to put money aside for Christmas.

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Royal Mail: Online bankers still want paper statements (UK)

Posted by | Feb 4, 2008 | |

Some 19 per cent of online bankers would switch providers if they were no longer able to receive statements and confidential information through the post, a Royal Mail survey has found.

Banking via the internet is a popular choice for many these days and can allow borrowers access to functions such as overdraft extensions, direct debits and up-to-the minute statements.

However, research commissioned by Royal Mail found that 68 per cent of those who conduct their money matters on the web still liked receiving paper correspondence, while seven in ten believed it was safer to receive confidential data this way.

When asked about utility providers, 35 per cent of consumers said they would take their custom elsewhere should their current supplier decide not to send statements by mail.

“Many companies are currently actively encouraging people to transact with them online, but they need to ensure that this is what their customers really want,” commented Abi Wood, head of financial sector marketing at Royal Mail.

“This research demonstrates the importance and value that many people place on having a hard copy record of their transactions.”

According to UK payments association Apacs, the number of card payments on the internet reached 426 million in 2006.

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Postcomm consults on license for Document Outsourcing Limited

Posted by | Feb 4, 2008 | |

Postcomm today began a 30-day consultation on the proposed grant of a postal operator’s licence to Document Outsourcing Limited.

Under the licensing framework that took effect from 1 January 2006, and was amended in January 2008, the licence would:

– allow Document Outsourcing Limited to provide all types of postal service;
– be issued for a rolling ten year period; and
– require the company to comply with codes of practice on mail integrity (safety and security of the mail) and common operational procedures (designed to ensure the multi-operator market works well in practice).
– The consultation notice and proposed licence can be found on the Document Outsourcing Limited consultation page.

Postcomm is minded to, subject to consultation, to grant a licence to Document Outsourcing Limited. Postcomm believes that the proposed licence will further the interests of postal users by promoting competition between postal operators, and that it will have no adverse effect on the provision of a universal postal service in the United Kingdom.

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FedEx + DHL Isn't Necessarily Bad for UPS

Posted by | Feb 4, 2008 | |

Rumors have been flying that DHL’s United States operations are up for sale. With the recent announcement that Deutsche Post’s DHL business unit lost 600 million Euros (USD 879 million) last year, the company is seeking strategic alternatives.

The leading candidate to purchase DHL is thought to be FedEx. While some may think that a FedEx acquisition of DHL could spell trouble for UPS, the new FedEx/DHL could actually provide some much-needed relief for both of these transportation companies.

Airborne no more

DHL hasn’t been a player in the American express delivery business for very long (that is, if it ever really was one). Deutsche Post’s DHL Worldwide Express purchased express carrier Airborne Inc. for USD 1.12 billion in 2003. Airborne Express was the low-cost carrier in the express shipping marketplace, often undercutting FedEx and UPS prices without the service guarantees that the bigger shippers provide.

DHL decided to rebrand the Airborne operations using the DHL name while keeping the low-price shipping position. DHL also scrapped the previous Airborne logo and colors, moving to bright yellow trucks and uniforms that couldn’t be missed even in one of those blinding snowstorms hitting the West Coast lately.

Considering that Deutsche Post paid USD 1.12 billion for an investment in the U.S. express shipping marketplace, last year’s loss of USD 879 million is significant, and it wouldn’t be surprising if they were looking to offload the U.S. DHL operations ASAP. But what does this say for the marketplace if the “low-price carrier” can’t compete in an economy that continues to echo “recession?” Wouldn’t you think that consumers would be looking to cut costs wherever possible in this economic climate?

The price is right

The answer may lie in the fourth-quarter earnings report that UPS delivered last week. Beyond the losses that it took because of pension write-offs, UPS stated that revenue per piece was up 2.3pct on “firm” pricing. UPS’ 2007 increase in list rates was 4.9pct (not including the additional increases in individual surcharge amounts), so growth in discounts given to corporate and individual customers must have made up the difference between increase in base shipping rates and realized revenue per package (assuming that weight per package stayed the same).

As background, to keep up in a competitive transportation marketplace, UPS, FedEx, and DHL give special incentive pricing programs to key clients. Actually, everyone seems to qualify as a “key” client today, and customers can gain discounts for simple tasks like using FedEx Ship Manager or by belonging to an organization such as the American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

So, even though UPS raised base rates by 4.9pct in 2007, they gave clients increased discounts such that the average actual rate increases only came out to 2.3pct. UPS and FedEx price competition means trouble for DHL since low-price is DHL’s key claim to fame. Combine this with a recent USPS advertising campaign touting no surcharges and low rates, and it’s easy to see how DHL could run into serious issues.

Yellow and blue make green

If FedEx does buy DHL’s U.S. operations, it wouldn’t be to boost its express or ground network. After all, those gaudy bright yellow trucks and planes aren’t necessarily an asset to anyone. No, FedEx’s potential purchase of DHL would be an easy way to stave off price pressures in a competitive shipping marketplace. In effect, FedEx would be taking one for the team: getting rid of the public competitor who fought on price alone.

That’s not to say that FedEx is going to buy DHL, or that the government would OK such a move. But if the yellow DHL trucks were to move on, that could mean green for both FedEx and those brown guys at UPS.

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