Tag: UK

Post Office UK Ltd to sell mortgages

Posted by | Sep 24, 2007 | |

The Post Office today announced that it is to start selling mortgages.

A range of home loans backed by Bristol & West, the Bank of Ireland’s UK lending arm, will initially go on offer at post office branches in the North East from this week, before being rolled out across the UK.

The move comes as dozens of mainstream mortgage lenders are scaling back their mortgage business to reduce risk in the wake of the global credit crunch.

The Post Office, which claims to be the fastest growing financial services provider in the UK with more than one million savings, loan, insurance and credit card customers, hopes to capitalise on the complexity of existing deals offered on the high street by offering simpler loans without hidden charges, but said that it would apply strict lending criteria to the three loans in its new range that will exclude some borrowers.

It will offer one standard three-year fixed rate loan of 6.09 per cent up to 95 per cent of the property’s value, a 6.35 per cent buy-to-let mortgage up to 85 per cent and a self-certification loan for self-employed borrowers of 6.44 per cent on up to 90 per cent. All of the loans come with an arrangement fee of GBP 399.

Brokers welcomed increased competition from the Post Office’s new venture, but said that the loans were not the most competitive on the market.

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Scottish cities first for deliveries by Royal Mail rival

Posted by | Sep 23, 2007 | |

Sources at Postcomm, the postal services regulator, say TNT Post is building up its capacity in the two cities so that it can trial a full “end to end” service for Scottish business.

A number of private companies have moved into delivering postal services in the UK since the introduction of full competition to the market on January 1 last year. While some companies offer competitive rates to pick up mail or deliver it to its final destination, all still rely on the Royal Mail network for at least one part of the delivery process. In most cases, Royal Mail is used for what has been termed the ‘final mile’.

But TNT Post UK, the British branch of the Dutch postal group, aims to start offering a full service where post is picked up from businesses by TNT postmen, sorted at its own offices and then distributed by TNT’s delivery staff.

TNT Post has emerged as the main competitor to the Royal Mail since the market was opened up. It handles over 1.2 billion items of mail a year and has recently won several high profile deals, including a three-year contract to deliver the Phone Book to 3.2 million homes.

In Scotland, the company has targeted the small business market in particular. Its ‘PremierSort Flex’ service is aimed at local businesses that send a maximum of 250 letters and parcels a day. At the moment, the service uses the Royal Mail network for the ‘final mile’.

However, industry observers say that Britain is a long way from a fully privatised postal service. Statistics from Postcomm show that the Royal Mail delivers more than 99 pct of the UK’s mail to people’s doorsteps.

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Royal Mail: U-turn over mail centre closure

Posted by | Sep 21, 2007 | |

It was announced 12 months ago that operations at Reading and Gloucester would be moved to Swindon.

The new plan means Oxford and Reading mail centers will now close in 2009, but Gloucester will remain open.

Royal Mail said the changes addressed “an urgent need to improve mail consistency and efficiency”.

Area general manager Michael Devanny said: “We believe that moving work from Oxford to our extended facility in Swindon, which will be equipped with the latest technologies, will enable us to address an urgent need to improve the reliability of the mail services for our customers in the OX postcode area.

“Our first priority as we take forward this plan will be to fully support staff at all sites, particularly recognising the impact on our Oxford colleagues as a result of the revisions to our original proposals.”

He added that the company had a good “record of managing people through change” and that they would be consulting with the unions and staff.

Development work is due to start at Swindon on 8 October.

As part of the plans, a new delivery office is being developed for central Reading.

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Business Post integrates its mail

Posted by | Sep 21, 2007 | |

Express Parcels and Mail is to become the brand name for Business Post’s express parcels and mail service. Previously the name only covered the group’s thriving postal business, but the decision has been taken to merge its parcels service under the UK Mail umbrella, as part of its integration strategy. Chief executive Guy Buswell is quick to explain that the firm is not dropping its parcels business: “Mail can mean anything these days. We think we can do better in parcels by changing…

Head of group marketing Nigel Proctor explains that the change links in with the company’s integration strategy, but without substantial cost: “We’re a private organization – the money has to be invested in the customer,” he says, adding that the group also wanted to “seize the opportunity” to remove the FedEx logo embossed on Business Post vehicles – a hangover from the FedEx contract Business Post lost after the US parcels giant purchased ANC late last year. “We don’t want to start the confusion [that it’s a rebranding]. The change is more around the integration,” Proctor says.

Subtle changes already in place, including single invoices and group tender processes, are helping the group to present a more integrated front, he adds. Business Post is also looking to relaunch the group website next month. But Proctor adds that while the intention is to “appear more joined up to the customer; it is going to be a long exercise”. The next step is to look more closely at group operations, he adds.

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TNT Express opens largest German branch in Hamburg

Posted by | Sep 21, 2007 | |

TNT Express opened its EUR 19 million new Hamburg branch which is its largest location in Germany and designed as a “reference model” for the whole company.

The depot was officially opened on Friday, September 21 by Thomas Kraus, managing director TNT Express Germany, and Senator Axel Gedaschko, from Hamburg city council’s development authority. Some 400 customers and guests attended the event.

Constructed in just six months, the new building at Hamburg-Allermöhe comprises a 5,184 sqm sorting hall and 2,970 sqm of office space, and lies on a 26,000 sqm plot of land. It has 99 truck docking doors. Some 200 employees including sales staff work at the site which is strategically located close to the A1/A25 motorway junction south of Hamburg.

The U-shaped building can easily be extended by adding 1,200 sqm to each of the two side-arms and covering over the interior courtyard. Environmental aspects were taken into account, with the roof covered with plants to generate a good micro-climate and maximize use of rainwater.

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