Tag: UK

John Lewis selects Home Delivery Network as partner

Posted by | Oct 24, 2007 | |

Home Delivery Network has been selected by John Lewis Partnership to carry out home deliveries on behalf of the department store chain.

Under the terms of the rolling contract, Home Delivery Network will handle more than one million parcels annually for the John Lewis Partnership.

Walter Blackwood, Home Delivery Network managing director, said: “We are delighted the John Lewis Partnership has chosen our next day delivery service and we look forward to a long association with this well established company.”

Stuart Hill of John Lewis Partnership added that Home Delivery Network had been selected for its “unique ability” to adapt operations to the retailer’s increasing needs.

The UK’s largest dedicated home delivery service, Home Delivery Network delivers items from flowers to furniture, with more than 120 million items a year delivered to all 120 postal regions of the UK.

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Royal Mail staff awaits pension details

Posted by | Oct 23, 2007 | |

Royal Mail says the Communication Workers Union (CWU) has agreed to the closure of its final salary scheme.

But the union says it has only agreed to a consultation on changes, which will then be put to a ballot of all its Royal Mail and Post Office members.

“The final details have not been decided on,” said a CWU spokeswoman.

Since the start of the year, Royal Mail has wanted to cut the cost of its huge final-salary pension scheme, which covers 160,000 staff but has a deficit of GBP 6.5 bn.

Along with changes to working practices, the closure of the existing final-salary scheme and its replacement with cheaper alternatives was at the heart of the postal service’s recent industrial dispute.

Settlement

Settled on last Monday 22nd after days of negotiations, the dispute saw tens of thousands of postal staff on strike at sorting offices and depots around the country.

There will be a ballot right across all CWU members in the Royal Mail group

CWU spokeswoman

Among the issues agreed, said the Royal Mail, were: “The union’s support for the company’s overall proposed pension reform.”

“Royal Mail’s proposals include closing the final salary scheme to new members from 31 January 2008 and replacing it with a Defined Contribution scheme [and] introducing a Career Average Defined Benefit scheme for our existing employees from 1 April 2008,” it added.

However, a spokeswoman for the CWU said the union was annoyed its stance had been misrepresented.

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Leading retailer signs renewal with DHL

Posted by | Oct 23, 2007 | |

DHL Exel Supply Chain has agreed to sign a GBP 100 million contract renewal for a further five years with TK Maxx, the retailer offering famous designer brands at up to 60 percent lower prices. A subsidiary of the US-based TJX Companies Inc., TK Maxx has stated that this is the largest and longest contract it has ever signed.

The contract extends TK Maxx’s activities with DHL’s specialist Department Stores and Fashion team beyond its existing operations into a partnership that will support the retailer’s key growth strategy in the UK and Europe through a continually enhanced transport network.

The “green” challenge has played a fundamental role in the contract, which contains a specific clause stipulating both companies must work together to achieve key environmental and social responsibility goals. TK Maxx and DHL will be working in partnership to deliver an efficient operation, whilst reducing vehicle movement, fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

DHL has managed a dedicated transport operation for TK Maxx in the UK since 1994, and during that time has seen the number of stores increase from the original two to 213. Since May 1, 2007, as part of the expansion plans, DHL has begun operating two Cross Dock Centers (CDCs) at Hatfield and Rochdale on behalf of TK Maxx. The number of CDCs is set to increase to nine, in order to support new store openings over the next five years, and transport operations will continue to deliver TK Maxx fashion apparel, home wares and accessories to all stores in the UK and Ireland.

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UPS 3rd quarter earnings

Posted by | Oct 23, 2007 | |

UPS today reported a 9.4 pct increase in adjusted diluted earnings per share for its third quarter on a 4.7 pct gain in revenue. The company saw significant improvement in the supply chain and freight segment and good gains in its international business. Its U.S. small package operation posted modest improvement in spite of a sluggish economy.
For the three months ended Sept. 30, 2007, adjusted diluted earnings per share climbed to USD 1.05 as consolidated package volume rose to an average daily total of 15.25 million.
The adjusted financial results exclude a USD 46 million restructuring charge and related expenses for a supply chain business in France. Including the impact of this charge, diluted earnings per share increased 6.3 pct to USD 1.02 compared to USD 0.96 per diluted share in the same period in 2006.
“This was a very good quarter for the company from many perspectives,” said Mike Eskew, UPS’s chairman and CEO. “First, UPS turned in a solid performance in the face of a slower U.S. economy. We reached tentative agreement with the Teamsters on a new contract almost a year early. And we unveiled industry-leading service and technology innovations.”
Adjusted operating profit improved 11.3 pct with gains in all three business segments. Consolidated revenue per piece increased 3.1 pct.
“Once again, UPS’s balanced network around the globe produced solid results even in the face of a lackluster U.S. economy,” said Scott Davis, UPS’s vice chairman and CFO. “Fourth quarter results will be driven by good performance in our international operations and further gains in supply chain and freight. We expect slowing retail sales will restrain U.S. domestic volume growth. For the full year, we expect adjusted diluted earnings per share to be between USD 4.13 and USD 4.19, well within the range we provided at the beginning of 2007.”

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Postcomm publishes revised proposals on Royal Mail's redirections service

Posted by | Oct 23, 2007 | |

Postcomm, the independent regulator for postal services, has published its proposals on Royal Mail’s redirections service.

In the fully competitive market, where rivals of Royal Mail are also able to offer their own collection and delivery services, redirection arrangements need to be broadened to allow those rivals to redirect mail. Postcomm has consulted on how this could be achieved within the constraints of data protection rules.

Some of the recommendations Postcomm is making are:

– Royal Mail be required to share the redirections data with other licensed operators who wish to provide a redirections service;
– Once an operator chooses to access redirections data, it must provide a redirections service for its area of operations;
– Royal Mail share the data with other licensed operators from its business diversion service (which Postcomm considers is essentially a subset of the redirections service);
– Other operators wishing to provide a redirections service should be allowed to update their senders with the new address of their customers where the appropriate consent has been given; and
– All licensed operators will be able to not redirect mail if they have explicit instructions to that effect from the sender.

Every year, around 1.3 million households and businesses use Royal Mail’s redirections service, and there are approximately 800,000 redirections “live” on the company’s books at any one time.

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