Tag: UK

Half Britain's Post Offices `will have to close'

Posted by | Dec 9, 2006 | |

The Royal Mail has told ministers that half of Britain’s 14,500 post offices should be shut to stem mounting losses, it was reported today.
But the Government is likely to propose that a fifth of rural and urban branches- between 2,500 and 3,000 – be closed down, according to the Times.
Controversy over plans for reforming the network has been growing in the run-up to an announcement by the Department for Trade and Industry expected next Thursday.
Royal Mail has previously claimed that around 4,000 post offices nationwide would be the optimum “commercial” level, although chief executive Adam Crozier has accepted its social benefits must also be taken into account.
Currently the network comprises around 8,000 rural and 6,500 urban branches, and is said to make an operating loss of GBP2 million every week – subsidised with GBP150 million annually from the Treasury.

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FSB calls for Royal Mail shake-up

Posted by | Dec 9, 2006 | |

The Federation of Small Businesses is calling for a shake-up of the service offered by Royal Mail to its members after research showed 82 per cent of small businesses felt post offices were vital to their operations.

The survey of 3,000 small businesses found that Royal Mail’s introduction of pricing in proportion, in which charges are based on the size as well as weight of items, had increased postage costs for 43 per cent of companies. About 44 per cent said the new pricing regime had also raised the amount of time they spent preparing post.

Clive Davenport, FSB trade and industry chairman, said: “In terms of paying bills and invoicing customers the postal service remains the only small business choice despite the increasing use of new technology. This is partly explained because of recent closures of high-street bank branches.”

The FSB survey found that 48 per cent of respondents’ post arrives later since the Royal Mail merged first and second posts into a single daily delivery in 2004 and 82 per cent said closure of their local post office would have a significant impact on their business.

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Royal Mail recruits ‘Address Detectives’ as it prepares for festive postcode challenge

Posted by | Dec 8, 2006 | |

Royal Mail has taken on more than 3,000 “address detectives” as it prepares to handle 400 million poorly addressed and written Christmas card and letters during the busy festive period.

And it has added a series of new features to its online postcode finder as it encourages people to make sure that they put the correct address on the envelope and include the postcode.

Royal Mail expects to deliver more than two billion items over the festive period but estimates 400 million cards and letters will not be able to be read by its automated sorting machinery either because the postcode has not been included, the item has been poorly addressed or the handwriting style is difficult to read.

But more than 3,000 “address detectives” have been recruited for the festive season to support the 1,400-strong team who will decipher the addresses of items that cannot be read automatically so that the letters can still be processed by the sorting machinery rather than by hand.

Alex Batchelor, Royal Mail’s Marketing Director, said: “Mail volumes almost double on peak days in December and it is important that people properly address their Christmas cards and use the postcode. Letters and cards that have clearly written addresses and a postcode can be read by our machines and handled 20 times faster than by hand.

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TNT giving generously

Posted by | Dec 8, 2006 | |

TNT has once again been named as one of the UK’s most caring companies with the news that TNT Express Services figure prominently in a list of the country’s most generous givers to charitable organisations.

The company features in an elite group of 141 companies that donate at least one per cent of their pre-tax profits to worthy causes. This qualifies each company to feature in the ‘PerCent Standard’ – a list of top corporate benefactors complied by the Business in the Community organisation.

The recognition is designed to encourage commercial organisations to embrace the principles of Corporate Social Responsibility and put something back into the communities in which business and industry operates.

Tom Bell, Managing Director of TNT Express Services in the UK & Ireland said: “I am immensely proud of our leading, and sustained, role in making a positive contribution to communities the length and breadth of Britain.

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Direct marketers angry at loss of Postwatch voice

Posted by | Dec 7, 2006 | |

The consumer champion’s success in defending postal users’ interests against Royal Mail’s market dominance has made it popular with direct mailers. One of the direct marketing industry’s leading voices, Edward Mutton, director-general of the Institute of Sales Promotion, has accused the Government of plotting to gag the watchdog.

He points out that promotional marketers are “very big spenders on mail”.
In October, consumer minister Ian McCartney announced plans to provide consumers with a single point of contact for a range of consumer issues. Consumer Voice, he said, would pull together the National Consumer Council, Energywatch and Postwatch into a single body which would be a “powerful and effective advocate” for consumers. It will also save money, the DTI argues – around GBP10.5m a year.

However, the direct marketing industry believes that Postwatch has done an excellent job for businesses, the biggest mail users in the UK. Royal Mail’s top 100 customers produce approximately one-third of its GBP6bn annual revenue.
Alex Walsh, head of postal affairs at the Direct Marketing Association (UK), says that the future of Postwatch will be on the agenda for this week’s meeting of Postwatch’s trade association forum. He accepts that the UK’s big business-mail users could form their own lobby group, but says any such body would be unlikely to have the same weight and visibility that Postwatch has.

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