They’re calling it the Royal Mail betrayal.
Just two years shy of its 500th birthday, the United Kingdom’s postal service may be forced to end its daily deliveries because of the threat from rivals.
According to Royal Mail – whose profits have slumped by £74million while shares continue to drop - competing courier services are ‘cherry-picking’ highly-profitable business contracts while it must deliver to everyone in the country for the same price.
Chief Executive Moya Greene says rapid expansion by rivals like Whistl – which has begun doorstep deliveries in major cities but not every day or in rural regions – ‘undermines the economics’ of the nationwide delivery service operated by Royal Mail, which was privatised in 2013.
Today we can queue at the post office for new stamps showing eight prime ministers. Who would you choose for a letter to a friend (or an enemy) – Margaret Thatcher, Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee or Harold Wilson? They’re all first class. Those who prefer to send portraits of Gladstone, Pitt, Grey or Peel must pay 97p each, the rate for a card to go abroad. No doubt a friendly counter clerk will peel you off a few Peels if you think Pitt the pits. But where, you may ask, is Disraeli, where Lloyd George? The answer is that they featured philatelically in 1987 and 2013. If their stamps did not arrive with the post on the doormat, it just shows up the weakness of our commemorative stamp system. Envelopes are more usually decked with dull definitives or feeble frankings. Fans of these famous men (and one woman) will have to make a special effort.
Lower prices, bigger parcels
Whether you’re sending parcels to friends or family, or selling items online you can now send up to 2kg for £2.80 until 18 January 2015. That’s a fabulous saving of £1 on every Small Parcel you send.
Lower price
For the festive period from 20 October 2014 to 18 January 2015, you can send a Small Parcel for the low price of just £2.80 for up to 2kg.
Bigger size
We’ve introduced a new, more convenient, larger Small Parcel size – 45cm x 35cm x 16cm. So this Christmas (and all year round) you can send even more for less.
Glad tidings, at your busiest time of year.
October 14th, 2014 in
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Royal Mail has launched a trial scheme with the opening of 100 of its busiest delivery offices UK-wide on Sundays.
The company will also begin to offer Sunday parcel deliveries but this will be in the London area only.
Allowing customers to collect parcels on a Sunday for the first time is the latest in a number of changes introduced by the company.
Royal Mail, which was part-privatised last year, is facing competition from business rivals such Amazon.
Opening hours
Royal Mail said its decision to open some delivery offices on Sundays would make it easier for people who shop online, but are not normally home during the day, to get their goods.
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We are continuing to be more customer responsive and provide more options for people to receive items they have ordered online”
Nick Landon Managing director, Royal Mail Parcels
The offices, which are located across the UK, will be open between 12:00 and 16:00 on Sundays. The company is also launching some Sunday delivery services, to addresses within the M25 area.
Royal Mail spokesman Mike Newnham said it was about making things easier for customers.
“In the last year or so we’ve launched our Delivery to Neighbour service, we’ve opened up about 600 of our delivery offices on a Wednesday evening to provide more convenience, and also we’ve launched the country’s largest click-and-collect service in conjunction with the Post Office,” he said.
Royal Mail’s Delivery to Neighbour service involves items being delivered to a neighbouring address for collection if the intended recipient is not at home.
Collection times
Parcel deliveries account for more than half of Royal Mail’s revenues but it is facing increasing competition from rival operators such as online retailer Amazon which began offering Sunday deliveries earlier this year.
Analysts believe the growing popularity of so-called click-and-collect services, which allow goods to be ordered online before being picked up at local stores or collection points, is also having a significant effect on the parcels business.
Last month, Royal Mail said it was bringing forward the final collection times at thousands of post boxes in order to save money.
Royal Mail’s network of about 1,400 delivery offices is currently open six days a week.
Nick Landon, managing director of Royal Mail Parcels, said: “We are continuing to be more customer responsive and provide more options for people to receive items they have ordered online.
“I am delighted to pilot Sunday afternoon opening at around 100 of our delivery offices across the UK with the highest parcel volumes, and Sunday deliveries to addresses within the M25 motorway.”
September 9th, 2014 in
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Regular postal deliveries to rural homes and communities could soon be a thing of the past, leaving thousands of people trapped in isolation, the Royal Mail warned last night.
The recently-privatised postal service said the universal service obligation (USO), which requires it to deliver to any address in the country six days a week, could become unsustainable as rival delivery firms eat into its profits.
It has now demanded an investigation by Ofcom, the post and communications regulator, into the issue.
Campaigners have echoed the Royal Mail’s fears, saying that the threat to rural services could have a serious effect on the quality of life of people living outside towns and cities.
Jill Ypey, the chairman of the National Federation of Occupational Pensioners, said: “Many who have retired to more rural areas have already lost their Post Offices and now could be faced with even less ability to keep in touch regularly. It would be catastrophic if the subsidy to deliver to rural areas is no longer available.”
June 21st, 2014 in
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The price of a first-class stamp is to increase by 2p to 62p while a second-class stamp will go up 3p to 53p, Royal Mail has announced.
Also from 31 March, a large letter first-class stamp up to 100g will rise by 3p to 93p and a large letter second-class stamp will increase by 4p to 73p.
Despite the increases, Royal Mail insisted its prices were “amongst the best value for money in Europe”.
Two years ago the cost of a first-class stamp jumped from 46p to 60p.
Royal Mail said that under the current regulatory framework, it could have increased second-class stamps by 7p, instead of the 3p it chose to.
It said its “high quality, six-day-a-week, one-price-goes-anywhere universal service” costs more than £7bn a year to run.
The average across Germany, France, Spain and Italy for first-class letters is 67p and 60p for second class, Royal Mail said.
March 11th, 2014 in
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Ofcom has told Royal Mail it must improve “important aspects” of the service it provides to postal users after missing key performance targets.
It said Royal Mail had missed its target of delivering 93% of first-class letters the day after they were posted, achieving only a 91.7% rate.
The regulator said the company could be fined if it missed targets in future.
However, it added that the recently-privatised Royal Mail was on a “stronger financial footing”.
Last month, Royal Mail floated a 60% stake in the company on the London Stock Exchange.
Possible fines
“Ofcom is concerned about Royal Mail’s failure to meet certain service targets, and has made clear to the company that it must take all necessary steps to meet these in future,” Ofcom said.
Royal Mail missed a target of delivering 91.5% of next day deliveries for first class mail in nearly all postcode areas of the UK, hitting the target in only 62% of postcodes.
However, the company met other targets, including delivering 98.5% of second class letters within three days of collection.
Ofcom said it would continue to monitor Royal Mail’s performance closely.
“Should it miss the targets in future, Ofcom will consider opening a formal investigation which could result in enforcement action, including the possibility of fines,” it said.
A spokesperson for Royal Mail said Ofcom found 86% of customers were satisfied overall with the postal service.
But they added: “We were disappointed that we didn’t meet all of the regulatory quality of service targets we were required to last year. This remains a key area of focus for us.”
The postal service had the “highest service specification of any major European country” and took its performance “very seriously”, the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added: “We are focused on continual improvement in
November 27th, 2013 in
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Delivery of letters and parcels could be disrupted in the run-up to Christmas in the biggest strike at Royal Mail for four years.
The strike could start as early as October 10, potentially forcing the Government to delay any plans to privatise Royal Mail until the New Year.
The Communication Workers Union said 125,000 of its members will be balloted over pay, jobs, pensions and the impact of any sell-off.
Royal Mail said industrial action, or the possibility of disruption, was damaging to the business, especially in the run-up to Christmas – its busiest time.
The Government also said that the news will not alter its decision to sell shares in Royal Mail in this financial year.
All Royal Mail and Parcelforce workers in the CWU will be balloted from September 20, with the result due on October 3. If there is a yes vote, the union would have to give seven days’ notice for strike action.
September 6th, 2013 in
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Royal Mail staff discontent with bosses
The low morale of the Royal Mail workforce has been laid bare by an internal report which reveals just 28pc of the staff have confidence in the decisions of the senior management team led by chief exec Moya Greene.
Less than four in ten support Royal Mail’s “strategy and direction”, under a third feel “valued and recognised” while 14pc claim to have been bullied or harassed in the workplace, mainly by their immediate line manager.
Just 34pc believe the senior management team “communicates a clear vision”.
The results are detailed in Royal Mail’s annual employee feedback survey, carried out by Ipsos Mori and filled out by 110,000 staff.
The figures were released under the Freedom of Information Act.
Union chiefs at war with the Royal Mail over its privatisation plans leapt on the findings to claim they show “just how out of touch” the management really are.
August 19th, 2013 in
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UP to 150,000 Royal Mail staff will be handed thousands of pounds in free shares in a £3billion sell-off, it was announced yesterday.
Business Secretary Vince Cable said 10 per cent of the new company
would be gifted to employees, netting them a potential windfall of up to £2,000 each.
But the offer failed to appease the postal workers’ union which threatened strikes.
The exact proportion sold will depend on market conditions and investor demand but it will be a majority stake.
The public will have a chance to buy shares but Royal Mail staff will get first refusal if they want to buy shares on top of their free stakes, which they would have to keep for at least three years.
July 29th, 2013 in
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