Tag: UK

ANC deliver the HR Director of the Year 2006

Posted by | Dec 14, 2006 | |

Wendy Dean, HR Director for the express parcel carrier ANC, was awarded the Personnel Today ‘HR Director of the Year’. The awards took place at the Grovesnor Hotel in London and hosted over 1200 human resources professionals from the UK. These awards, judged by the HR industry, received more entries this year than ever before, making the win even more significant. The win comes as a result of her work to integrate the mission statement ‘Delivering Peace of Mind’ into the company culture, which has been a huge success and embraced by employees at all levels. ANC were also delighted to be nominated as a finalist for the ‘HR Strategy in line with Business’ award but narrowly missed out to The AA Group.

Angela O’Connor Executive Director of HR for the National Policing Improvement Agency, last year’s winner of the HR Director award judged this year’s competition, she said “Wendy is clearly at the heart of the business and has been given responsibility for a number of wide ranging areas. She has a clear understanding of how to bring value back into the business through a range of interventions that can easily demonstrate benefits to the bottom line”. Wendy said “I am totally overwhelmed by the award and it is a true reflection of the support and encouragement I have had from the board at ANC. I am also delighted for my team who nominated me for the award, and without their help this simply would not have been possible.” Wendy has been employed with ANC for over 16 years and is responsible for over 1,800 employees. During the past three years alone Wendy and her team have reduced absenteeism and employee turnover significantly. Wendy has also started a driver training division and begun developing the ANC Training Academy for all employees.

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ANC wins national award in road safety

Posted by | Dec 14, 2006 | |

ANC continues its winning streak with an exceptional achievement at the Brake Road Safety Charity Awards for Excellence 2006. Driver Training Manager, Mark Shaw, left with an armful of awards, including ‘Long Standing Commitment to Road Safety’. This award in particular was a huge achievement for Mark who has worked in the industry for nearly 30 years. Accepting his award he said “it is a real honor to receive this award, judged by safety professionals and my peers. It shows that our procedures and training courses demonstrate high standards and are effective in the campaign for road safety and greater awareness”.

Other awards include high commendations for:

– Road Risk Manager of the Year,
– Company Driver Safety, and
– Safety in the Community.

The Fleet Safety Forum Awards for Excellence aim to promote best practice among companies of any size operating vehicles of any type. The awards reward professionals who have worked significantly to improve the safety of vehicle operations, and by promoting award winners to the industry.

ANC’s success in the four categories can be put down to the prevalence of a Driver Safety Culture which incorporates, pre-employment assessments, on the job assessments for all employees who drive as part of their role, a proactive insurance department, improved accident reporting and back to work assessments.

ANC continues to work towards excellence and is now running training courses in LGV driving.

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Postwatch response to DTI’s post office closure proposals

Posted by | Dec 14, 2006 | |

On 14 December 2006 the DTI launched its consultation on rationalising the current post office network. The consultation proposed funding the closure of 2,500 post offices throughout the UK. Postwatch has today submitted its response, which includes 99 recommendations.

The Postwatch response can be viewed at www.postwatch.co.uk under policy documents. The executive summary sets out Postwatch’s key recommendations.

Millie Banerjee, Chair of Postwatch, said: “We had to submit a detailed response, with many recommendations, because the DTI failed to explain the thinking behind its proposals. The DTI did not answer even such basic questions as how they arrived at the figure of 2,500 closures, why they proposed the access criteria set out in the consultation and how they plan to avoid additional unplanned closures. We have had to say so much because the DTI said so little.

“The weaknesses of the consultation may actually have made contributors think harder and could lead to a better set of decisions. Whether this happens is now up to DTI ministers. They must consider and respond fully to the complex and important issues that have been raised by us and others.

“We all want the DTI’s decision document to be a thorough, well thought out piece of work. It must unambiguously explain to customers and their representatives how and why the pain ahead will eventually result in a viable and sustainable, if somewhat smaller, nationwide network of post offices that provides reasonable access for all.

“DTI Ministers have said their decision will be made within 3 weeks. This could give the impression, perhaps wrongly, that decisions have already been taken. But it is, of course, the quality of the decision, not the speed at which it is made, that counts. Ministers will need to demonstrate that they have given the many hundreds of responses the careful consideration they deserve.”

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Sorting the UK post office network

Posted by | Dec 14, 2006 | |

The closure of any post office is a loss to the customers and community involved. But Postwatch recognises that the current situation of increasing financial losses and fewer transactions cannot continue.

To let the current drip-drip of unplanned closures continue would be irresponsible and would undoubtedly lead to some areas losing access to post office services. The government’s consultation on future funding and structural arrangements for the post office network is the first step in putting in place a strategic plan.

For over a year, Postwatch has been urging the government to propose a sustainable way of meeting customers’ post office needs. In response to the consultation, Millie Banerjee, Chair of Postwatch, said: “Today’s announcement and consultation are the first steps in providing a clear view on how the post office network will look in the future. We have consistently urged the government to provide that clarity and are pleased we now at least have proposals to work on.

“This is not a simple numbers game of how many post office buildings are to close. The focus should be on ensuring customers have access to post office services. Solutions will vary from location to location. But, for example, if a number of expensive-to-run, seldom used post offices can be replaced with a cost-effective mobile service that meets communities’ needs – doesn’t that make sense?

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RFID adoption held up by vicious circle

Posted by | Dec 14, 2006 | |

Demand for passive radio frequency identification (RFID) labels, particularly UHF labels, is being stymied by a vicious circle of high unit costs that can only be reduced if production volumes increase.

According to a new study from ABI Research, the reason these core components of RFID tags have failed to achieve their expected potential is the relationship between prices, volumes and the business case for RFID.

In a classic vicious circle, production costs for UHF labels are still at levels tending to inhibit the high-volume deployments that would provide economies of scale.

“At current prices, many end-user companies in the retail supply chain struggle to determine a compelling business case for RFID,” said ABI Research analyst Robert Foppiani.

“Those companies that have high value, high risk goods are often able to find a business case to justify the investment in RFID passive labels at current prices.

“But many members of the value chain are operating on thin margins, and most are unwilling to drop prices any further until there is much greater volume.”

Foppiani added that label vendors are trying a variety of tactics to “wring every last cent” out of the cost of their products.

ABI Research’s report noted that a number of EPC Gen 2 RFID vendors are engaged in “loss-leader” activities, offering labels at unsustainable prices in an effort to gain market share.

“Eventually, some will drop out of the running or will find niche markets where their products can find a role. ABI Research believes that cost reduction tactics will not have a short-term effect on market volumes,” the study stated.

“The substantial price cuts seen in the past year were necessary to attract end users complying with mandates.

“Future vendor attempts at lowering production costs will make more sense as higher volumes are reached. Users will proceed cautiously case-by-case and volumes will rise slowly and steadily rather than dramatically.”

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