The volume of direct mail delivered by Royal Mail could rocket under the peace deal agreed with the postal unions.
As part of the deal brokered with the Communications Workers Union (CWU), existing rules that limit the number of unaddressed flyers, leaflets and letters to three per household have been lifted.
The CWU had previously stated that unlimited mail would make mailbags too heavy but the Royal Mail has pushed for the revenue boosting move in the face of mounting competition.
Royal Mail currently enjoys about 25% of the unaddressed mail market but is looking to take business from rivals.
The deal also sees postal workers awarded a 6.9% pay rise over the next three years. It also ends the threat of further strikes.
Postal workers staged a series of walkouts in the autumn in a dispute over jobs, pay and modernisation.
A truce was called in November that put a stop to the planned Christmas stoppages and the two have been locked in talks since the turn of the year.
Source: Marketing Week
Follow this link to read about the Dispatches program Channel 4 have just televised showing a couple of undercover reporters working for Royal Mail. http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/episode-guide/series-51/episode-1
I have just posted my comments to Channel 4 regarding this program. This is what I said:
Fascinating. My first reaction to your program is that this wasn’t a fair representation of the whole of Royal Mail. From my experience major towns and cities tend to be significantly more problematic than more rural areas. However, it is a testament to Channel 4 that programmes such as these can have such far reaching impact and for that I acknowledge that your name and shame tactic has already reaped results.
It would be interesting to see some captains of industry form a high-profile think tank to solve the problems at Royal Mail. Perhaps a more positive approach would actually harvest better results?
Why can’t the workers simply be incentivised and paid based on their production? You can’t have the tail (CWU) wagging the dog (RM) BUT – it is clear from your report that RM has to incite quality workers to be part of their ‘modernised’ organisation. To do this they need to offer good working conditions and provide the correct tools to enable the workers to do a good job.
With today’s technological advancements it would be possible to add a GPS system to larger delivery carts with battery motors to deliver heavy parcels in the major towns and cities where the majority of the problems lie.
Instead of encouraging Postcomm to fine RM nearly £10M, this money could be put to much better use to modernise the way in which the operations work. What happened to the £9.62 million? Give it back to RM to re-invest into their organisation.
Criticism won’t help anymore – they need outside help; quickly.
Samantha Anderson
Apart from our quarter page advert in this month’s KMB (Kent Messenger Business Paper), we also had our editorial printed on page 2 of their paper which ran as follows:
“
Firm Steps into deliver goods
THE latest postal strike has proved a bonus to a Kent firm that was only set up because there was no nearby post office. But its owner is quick to defend the beleaguered Royal Mail.
Post and Packing Warehouse was established three years ago in Kings Hill, West Malling. Director Samantha Anderson said: “New developments such as Kings Hill often lack some of the benefits of a traditional community, including a post office. We continue to offer an over-the-counter service for all customers, but business users have really latched onto us, particularly during the postal strikes.”
Post and Packing Warehouse does some local deliveries in direct competition with other providers including Royal Mail and giants such as Fedex and TNT – it has a single delivery van. But is acts as a postage broker for deliveries elsewhere in the UK and abroad.
DISCOUNT
“We are able to get better prices because we can send in bulk rather than one at a time. So, for example, if 10 of our customers want overnight deliveries into London, then we can negotiate a discount with one of the big providers and pass that back to individual users,” explains Ms Anderson.”We’ve been run off our feet during the industrial action.”
Post and Packing Warehouse has been particularly busy handling guaranteed next day deliveries during the strikes as Royal Mail is forced to suspend their service during industrial action.
Despite negative headlines being thrown at Royal Mail, Ms Anderson believes they still do a vital job. “We use them and so do the big delivery companies, especially to deliver the final mile,” she says. “Even during the strike, they are doing their best to keep the system moving.
“Two years ago, after the last bout of industrial action, people went back to using them afterwards because they do represent value for money.
“Everyone is trying to profit off the back of the Royal Mail’s circumstances, but we still advocate using them – I just think the dispute will highlight further that there are other options for consumers.”"
Soldiers from Afghanistan have been so overwhelmed with care packages from members of the public the Ministry of Defence (MoD) are asking people to stop sending them.
The British Forces Post Office (BFPO) has instructed Royal Mail staff not to accept any parcels addressed to unnamed soldiers because thousands of unsolicited packages are overloading the system.
Lieutenant Colonel Brett Duxbury from the BFPO said they will not be passing anonymous care packages onto soldiers in Afghanistan.
To send all of them would cost the MoD an extra £19million.
He said: “The free delivery system was set up so families and friends of soldiers could send a package of 2kg or under.
“Unsolicited mail was placing a massive strain of the supply train and delaying personal mail from home.
“We thank the British public for their generosity but we are asking people to support the services in other ways such as through dedicated charities.”
Soldiers from Afghanistan have been so overwhelmed with care packages from members of the public the Ministry of Defence (MoD) are asking people to stop sending them.
The British Forces Post Office (BFPO) has instructed Royal Mail staff not to accept any parcels addressed to unnamed soldiers because thousands of unsolicited packages are overloading the system.
Lieutenant Colonel Brett Duxbury from the BFPO said they will not be passing anonymous care packages onto soldiers in Afghanistan.
To send all of them would cost the MoD an extra £19million.
He said: “The free delivery system was set up so families and friends of soldiers could send a package of 2kg or under.
“Unsolicited mail was placing a massive strain of the supply train and delaying personal mail from home.
“We thank the British public for their generosity but we are asking people to support the services in other ways such as through dedicated charities.”
Last night Radio 4 broadcasted a special ”Today in Parliament” report which concentrated entirely on Royal Mail; covering the history of its nationalisation and resistence to privitisation and the very pressing question mark over its future.
If you would like to hear the broadcast please follow this link http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00npjll/Today_in_Parliament_13_11_2009/ you You may wish to fast forward very slightly to the beginning of the programme and start listening from 1.2 minutes into the recording.
The programme is 30 minutes, so I suggest you prepare a cup of tea before listening!
CLICK ON THIS LINK TO SEE THE BBC BREAKFAST REPORT:-http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8346346.stm
Following an article we posted on-line with ‘Home Business Network’
(http://www.homebusinessnetwork.co.uk/node/645 ), the BBC contacted us with a view to filming a piece about P&P relating to the on-going industrial action by the CWU.
The team caught in action during the BBC Interview
The BBC Breakfast team arrived here at 11am on Thursday 5th November and filmed through to 3pm, shooting the report which was then shown 4 times the following morning on the BBC Breakfast News.
P&P was also visited by BBC Radio Kent, which featured a radio news package about our company on Friday 6th November throughout the morning in relation to the cancelled postal strikes.
Hear the full BBC Radio Kent interview by clicking here to download the audio
Please keep an eye on this ‘News’ page which, if you scroll down, also features other articles including one recently used by Kent Messenger On Line.
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kent_business/news/2009/october/30/postal_strike_delivers_boost.aspx
COMING SOON… Editorial in this months KMB -Kent Messenger Business Paper.
CLICK ON THIS LINK TO SEE THE BBC BREAKFAST REPORT:-http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8346346.stm
Following an article we posted on-line with ‘Home Business Network’
(http://www.homebusinessnetwork.co.uk/node/645 ), the BBC contacted us with a view to filming a piece about P&P relating to the on-going industrial action by the CWU.
The team caught in action during the BBC Interview
The BBC Breakfast team arrived here at 11am on Thursday 5th November and filmed through to 3pm, shooting the report which was then shown 4 times the following morning on the BBC Breakfast News.
P&P was also visited by BBC Radio Kent, which featured a radio news package about our company on Friday 6th November throughout the morning in relation to the cancelled postal strikes.
Hear the full BBC Radio Kent interview by clicking here to download the audio
Please keep an eye on this ‘News’ page which, if you scroll down, also features other articles including one recently used by Kent Messenger On Line.
http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kent_business/news/2009/october/30/postal_strike_delivers_boost.aspx
COMING SOON… Editorial in this months KMB -Kent Messenger Business Paper.
Despite the planned national strikes for tomorrow, Friday 6th and Monday 9th November, the CWU have offered Royal Mail an interruption of strike action over the next couple of months.
The recent debates regarding Royal Mail could not be more pertinent – will customers revert to them? Or, have Royal Mail already lost their most profitable customer base?
Below is the e-mail communication we received from Royal Mail this evening.
Dear Customer,
We recently contacted you to let you know about likely disruption to your mail services tomorrow (Friday 6th November) and Monday 9th November as a result of CWU strike action.
We’re really pleased to confirm that the CWU have called off the planned strike action and so all mail services will operate normally on Friday 6th and Monday 9th November.
We’re really sorry for the inconvenience we know disruption to mail services may have caused you. We are now concentrating all our efforts and resources on returning mail services to normal in all areas and delivering the best possible service to our customers in the weeks before Christmas.
Regards,
Royal Mail Customer Services
Original source : http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kent_business/news/2009/october/30/postal_strike_delivers_boost.aspx
The latest mail strike has meant a boom for Kent’s private postage and parcel companies.
West Malling-based Post and Packing Warehouse has reported a massive surge in interest from desperate businesses who need to find a way round the on-going industrial dispute.
“We have had a 175 per cent increase in the number of enquiries as well as a huge surge of traffic to our website with 350 new unique visitors this month,” said director Samantha Anderson. (more…)
