Tag: UK

Consultation starts on changes to Post Office network – East Essex and Suffolk

Posted by | Oct 9, 2007 | |

Post Office Ltd announces plans for East Essex and Suffolk

Post Office Ltd today opened a six week local public consultation on its Area Plan for East Essex and Suffolk. In line with the criteria and factors set by the Government in its response document, DTI The Post Office Network, Government Response to Public Consultation May 2007 (www.dti.gov.uk/consultations/page36024.html) the Area Plan proposes future provision of Post Office® services through a network of 340 branches across the area, resulting in the closure of 67 existing branches.

Under the proposals more than 99 pct of the area’s population will either see no change to their nearest branch, or will remain within one mile (by road distance) of an alternative branch.

In addition to the 340 branches which are proposed to remain in the East Essex and Suffolk areas, Post Office Ltd is proposing to establish 16 outreach services, which would use innovative ways to continue to provide Post Office® services – particularly in smaller communities – where the existing branch is proposed for closure.

Possible types of outreach service in the East Essex and Suffolk areas could include a mobile service visiting small communities at set times, a hosted service operated within third party premises for restricted hours each week, or a partner service within the premises of a local partner (such as a pub landlord).

The Government has already undertaken a 12 week national consultation before reaching a decision to reduce the UK wide network of Post Office branches by up to 2,500 from its current level of over 14000 while continuing to provide funding (subject to state aid EU clearance) to support a more sustainable network in the future. The proposals now published support the national accessibility criteria introduced by the Government.
Under the area plan proposals 92.7 pct of the area’s population will see no change in their nearest branch. A further 6.5 pct live less than one mile by road distance from the nearest alternative branch, with 2.7 pct within half a mile.

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DHL Express ships a unique collection of Marilyn Monroe dresses to the UK

Posted by | Oct 8, 2007 | |

DHL Express has delivered seven original dresses worn by Marilyn Monroe from the US to the UK for the start of an international exhibition showcasing the work of costume designer William Travilla. These dresses, which include the iconic white dress worn in The Seven Year Itch, were shipped by DHL in an overnight delivery to the UK and are now being exhibited at the Hilton Metropole Hotel in Brighton from 2-7th October.

With more locations planned for the exhibition, DHL will be working closely with exhibition organizer Andrew Hansford to ensure the dresses continue safely on their world tour.

This exciting partnership is just one example of the solutions DHL offers for customers in the fashion sector. Thanks to its new B2C delivery service, DHL@Home, DHL has been able to help meet the needs of the growing numbers of online fashion retailers. The UK fashion industry is increasingly reaping the benefits of the internet to sell to customers but poor delivery services often let businesses down. DHL’s innovative delivery service uses a network of local couriers to deliver goods at a time to suit customers – enabling fashion retailers to offer quick and effective home delivery.

At the other end of the supply chain DHL is also involved right at the beginning of the design process, moving sample traffic around the world. The relocation of many factories to Eastern Europe and Asia has meant that fabric and design samples now need to be moved huge distances in very short timescales.

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Postal productivity targets need to be more aggressive

Posted by | Oct 8, 2007 | |

The following is a perspective by PostCom Vice President Kate Muth for the PostCom Bulletin. The views expressed are solely the author’s. PostCom welcomes alternative views from responsible parties.

Most industry eyes were on the Postal Service’s bottom line last week when it released its Integrated Financial Plan for Fiscal Year 2008. Industry scoured the plan and listened to commentary about it for any hint regarding the next rate increase. This is the first financial and operating plan designed to accommodate the way the Postal Service will operate under the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA).

Observers were anxious to see how much volume and revenue growth the Postal Service projects in FY 2008 and where it sees its costs are headed. PostCom members are eager to see a comprehensive revenue-generation plan from the Postal Service. Many would also like to see the USPS’ productivity growth increase significantly. It’s true that the Postal Service can’t rely only on cost-cutting to achieve prosperity, but it can boost its productivity target.

The Postal Service has set as its total factor productivity (TFP) target for FY 2008 a growth of 1 percent. This would mark the ninth straight year of productivity growth for the organization. In its FY 2007 integrated financial plan, released last year at this time, the Postal Service set as its total factor productivity goal an increase of only 0.6 pct. Its final number for FY 2007 should surpass that target, which is a good thing. But the target needs to be much higher.

The Postal Service’s performance of eight straight years of productivity growth is commendable. Indeed, given its history, eight straight years of growth is remarkable. The organization had struggled over the years to sustain productivity growth, seeing its TFP numbers jump one year, only to decline the next. From 2000 to 2006, the Postal Service had cumulative growth in TFP of 10.4 percent, an amount that surpassed the cumulative growth for the 30 years spanning 1970 to 1999 (cumulative growth of 9.3 percent).

But the challenge is greater as the Postal Service moves into the era of price-cap control on its prices. With its latitude to raise rates on its market-dominant products capped at inflation and volume increases remaining flat, the Postal Service will need to increase its productivity even more than it has in the past few years. It will have to set private-sector targets.

Postal Service Chief Financial Officer Glen Walker acknowledged that the Postal Service would have to increase its productivity as the organization moves under price-cap regulation. In a conversation with trade reporters after the September board meeting, Walker said TFP would have to move higher than current targets and certainly could not go down in a year. The Postal Service’s continued focus on work hours will be key to achieving productivity growth, he said.

A recent paper by Michael Schuyler from the Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation (IRET) shows that the Postal Service’s TFP growth has been fairly similar to the private sector’s multi-factor productivity for the past six years. From 2000 to 2006, TFP grew on average 1.5 percent compared to a growth of 1.6 percent in multi-factor productivity for the private sector. But for the period 1975 to 2006, the Postal Service’s average productivity growth has been half of the private sector’s increase. See the full paper at http://iret.org/pub/ADVS-229.PDF.

Productivity is not a new topic in the postal world. It was a hot topic in the mid 1990s, when the Postal Service saw sizable decreases in TFP. But with the solid improvement over the past eight years, it has fallen off the radar screen a bit. Still, some in private industry have been quietly urging the Postal Service to step up its efforts and raise its goals.

The Postal Service faces competition and a price cap. It needs strong productivity to thwart both. I doubt anyone is suggesti

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Greater focus needed on creating a sustainable and viable UK post office network

Posted by | Oct 8, 2007 | |

Network needs a clear vision with a mix of products and services to attract and retain users
Post Office must capitalise on its brand strength and build more commercial partnerships
Research shows that mail is a unique selling point and potential growth area for post offices

Postcomm, the independent regulator for postal services, has called on the Government and Post Office Ltd to ensure that the sustainability of a viable post office network is their top priority once the current closure program is completed.

Postcomm does not regulate post offices but it does monitor and research developments in the network and provides independent advice to the Government. This is in the form of an annual report which is published today – entitled “A sustainable customer focused network” – along with supporting research on “Access to postal services”.

Among its recommendations, the regulator has identified that the network will need:

– a clear vision and a combination of commercial products and services that can attract and retain new customers – for example, Post Office Ltd has run trials with Argos, where customers were able to collect online purchases from their local post office, and is working on other propositions;
– more links with commercial partners who recognize and can benefit from Post Office Ltd’s brand strength – for example, its joint venture with Bank of Ireland to sell financial services which is attracting 50,000 new customers every month;
– stronger links with communities to identify ways in which they can work with Post Office Ltd and the Government to help sustain the provision of local postal services.

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Royal Mail Statement

Posted by | Oct 8, 2007 | |

Royal Mail said that it was disappointed and extremely concerned that intensive talks with the Communications Workers Union have not resolved the issues between us and that they have called for further strike action next week.

Royal Mail Chief Executive Adam Crozier said: “Over the last 8 days, and 30 hours of talks over the weekend alone, we have worked with the TUC and their General Secretary, Brendan Barber, and have been totally committed to finding a solution within the amount we can afford.

Royal Mail will be writing to the CWU later this week clearly setting out our position, and we remain available for talks.

Royal Mail also confirmed that during the latest strike action by the CWU the drift back to work among their members continues with more than half the typical daily mailbag being processed as usual.

We would like to thank all of our people who are supporting us during the dispute and doing all they can to keep the postal service moving and deliver the mail to our customers. We apologize to customers for any delay and inconvenience caused by the CWU’s strike action.

Royal Mail is also pleased that we have concluded a deal in principle with Unite/CMA, which represents 12,000 of our managers, over pay, modernization and pension reform. The agreement with Unite, like the pay deals already agreed with our people in Parcelforce and with our national network of sub postmasters, was reached without recourse to any industrial action.

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