Tag: UK

Mory Group keeps widening in Europe

Posted by | May 26, 2007 | |

Mory Group keeps widening in Europe and took a 50% participation in the capital of the Dutch Europa European Express Services company.

Based in Rotterdam, Europa European Express Services (E.E.E.S) is a specialist in the maritime routing coming from Asia, and reached an 11 million Euros turnover last year.
It also has activities in road transport and logistics activities, thanks to a 12,000 square meters warehouse (27,000 logistics orders managed per year, 9,000 pallet places racked, plus a 4,500 square meters cross-docking area).

Its teams are able to handle several hundreds of shipments per day in the Netherlands and in Europe: 42,000 international road transport shipments per year, 7,800 sea freight shipments, 22,500 courier shipments, and 16 owned delivery vehicles for the Netherlands.

E.E.E.S. strengthens in sea freight transport and opened, in December 2006, a subsidiary in Anvers, as a partnership with Mory Europa Belgium.

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Royal Mail delays drawing on funds for modernisation

Posted by | May 26, 2007 | |

Royal Mail has yet to draw on a Pounds 1.2bn loan made available to automate its operations under a new financing framework arran-ged more than a year ago.

The investment package announced last May by Alistair Darling, trade and industry secretary, was intended to help Royal Mail compete against the new breed of private-sector postal operators after it lost its monopoly at the start of 2006.

But although big business mail users are deserting Royal Mail in droves, Britain’s dominant postal operator has failed to take advantage of the new system. HSBC and Lloyds TSB are the latest to shift their bulk mailings to UK Mail, part of the Business Post Group.

News that TNT, one of Royal Mail’s biggest rivals, has been granted the right to launch a legal challenge over the state group’s exemption from VAT will come as another blow.

The fall in business customers and the growing competition from its rivals are not the only problems for Royal Mail. The number of items of mail fell last year for the first time in decades, with most in the industry expecting further declines in the future as email and other digital messaging systems replace “snail mail”.

In addition the government has been unable to find a high-profile business executive from the private sector to be deputy chairman and succeed Allan Leighton as chairman next year. And now the postal union is balloting members on a strike over this year’s pay offer, warning of more fights ahead over changes in working practices, staff cuts and the plan to close the pension scheme to new entrants.

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Postcomm statement on High Court judgement

Posted by | May 25, 2007 | |

Commenting on the judgement handed down by the High Court, Postcomm is pleased that the Judge confirmed that Postcomm had decided reasonably and properly that a financial penalty should be ordered in this matter.

However, the regulator is disappointed that the GBP 1 million penalty was quashed because of a technical difficulty in its policy for calculating financial penalties in cases where the benefit to Royal Mail and the burden on others from the licence contravention cannot be assessed. The Judge held that Postcomm could not depart from its published penalty policy in the circumstances of this case.

Following its investigation, Postcomm originally imposed the penalty on Royal Mail in July 2006 for failing to take adequate steps to ensure it could not gain an unfair commercial advantage over its competitors in the ‘access’ market.

Postcomm found that Royal Mail had not put in place adequate measures within its wholesale and retail divisions to prevent it obtaining an unfair advantage over its competitors as stipulated in Condition 10 of its licence. Postcomm’s investigation also found a failure in Compliance. These findings were not challenged in the appeal brought by Royal Mail.

Postcomm will consider appealing the decision to the Court of Appeal.

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TNT cleared to challenge Royal Mail's VAT exemption

Posted by | May 25, 2007 | |

Royal Mail’s VAT exemption could be challenged by rival TNT Post after a development in the High Court this month.

The High Court has granted TNT Post permission to apply for a judicial review of the exemption and is expected to rule soon that the European Court of Justice carry out the review.

All postal services provided by Royal Mail are VAT exempt, but services provided by all other operators are not.

TNT claims this distorts the postal market. It is a particular disadvantage in the case of business with banks and charities, which cannot recover VAT charges because they themselves are VAT exempt.

Nick Wells, chief executive of TNT Post, said: “The VAT distortion is subject to possible infringement proceedings by the European Commission. TNT Post is committed to providing its customers with an efficient and value-for-money service and will continue to fight for a level competitive playing field.”

If the European Court of Justice carries out a review it is not expected to finish until the summer of 2009.

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North Star Network launched

Posted by | May 24, 2007 | |

North Star Network aims to establish a database of’couriers’ from sales reps to students to deliver items all over the country at a rate of 56p per mile.

Founder David Gillooley said a typical example would mean someone travelling by train to London from Liverpool could earn pounds 107 from a journey that was being made anyway.

The 44-year-old from Aigburth who gave up a career as an architectural designer to set up his www.northstar-network.co.uk website in the city’s Rumford Court said his venture provides the opportunity for people to earn extra cash while doing almost nothing.

“We have a growing network of people from all walks of life. It’s free to join and we charge 50% less for same day deliveries – a massive saving.”

Would be ‘couriers’ register their details for free and can be asked to deliver items, mainly hand held goods, on behalf of North Star’s clients who need fast, guaranteed deliveries.

Goods can be handed over at a prearranged location, from a supermarket store lobby or coffee shop, even a service station.

He said his inspiration for setting up the website came from America where, for many years, students or travellers looking for cheap ways to move across the US solved the problem by driving vehicles to specific locations for owners who were moving there.

The business was formed towards the end of 2006 and Mr Gilloolley said it is growing in popularity: “We are getting loads of registrations. We’re up to 250 at the moment from as far north as Aberdeen to Plymouth on the south coast.

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