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The first job of Royal Mail’s next top boss should be to sort out the “diabolical” postal service in Gloucester, according to a civic chief. International Distribution Services, the owner of Royal Mail, appointed Martin Seidenberg as their new chief executive this month.
Mr Seidenberg will reportedly be paid a base salary of £700,000 a year and one of his first tasks will be to appoint a new chief executive for Royal Mail. But people in Gloucester are fed up with the erratic postal service they have had over recent months. And County Councillor Andrew Gravells (C, Abbey) is calling for a meeting with Royal Mail bosses to get to the bottom of the problem.
Cllr Gravells (C, Abbey) has been onto Royal Mail about the “diabolical” services they have experienced in the town for months. But he says the service has gotten seriously worse since February.
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He has written to the company several times asking why the service in the city is different to other parts of the country. Cllr Gravells said one resident said the service in Abbeydale has been “diabolical” with some streets having no post for more than a week.
While others have a pile of letters delivered included birthday cards and bills which are up to 12 days late. Another said their postman told them there were cages of undelivered post at the Gloucester North sorting office.
“Like many other people I am waiting for various items to arrive and to say the delays are an inconvenience would be an understatement,” one resident told Cllr Gravells. “My postie said they were told to blame the Bristol depot for the delays,” another resident said.
Cllr Gravells has written to Royal Mail asking why the promised improvements have not materialised. “It’s widely alleged that when postmen and postwomen go on holiday there is no cover for their rounds and any post is held until they’re back,” he said.
He has asked the company for a meeting with the manager at the Gloucester North sorting office and the regional manager. But he also suggests it would be a good idea for the new top boss to attend and see what the service is actually like in the city.
“It would be great if Martin Seidenberg, the new group chief executive, who took up his new post this week, could join us too, so he can see at first hand the impact on people’s lives of the erratic pattern of postal deliveries here in the heart of Gloucestershire,” Cllr Gravells said in an email to Royal Mail.
“I’d really like to welcome him to Gloucestershire and listen to his plans for this great city of Gloucester and my neighbourhood of Abbeydale and Abbeymead in particular.”
Royal Mail has apologised to residents who have experienced delays in Gloucester. A spokesperson said improving the quality of the service is their top priority and are committed to restoring service levels to where our customers expect them to be.
“At the delivery office, there have been recent issues with vacancies and sick absences which has caused some disruption to deliveries in the area,” a spokesperson said.
“Extensive plans are in place to ensure these delays are kept to a minimum, and that anyone who does not receive their mail on the day they expect are prioritised the next day. We would like to reassure customers that delivering a six day a week service is our top priority.
“Across our business we have plans in place to drive service levels and reduce absence at our delivery offices, we hope and expect to see further progress in the coming months.”
Royal Mail also said the number of addresses they deliver to has grown by more than two million and many postmen and women’s routes have not been revised in this time.
“This can mean that some routes can be an hour or two longer than others, for example where new housing developments have been built. Our latest results show a decline in the volume of letters sent since before the pandemic, during which time the number of parcels has risen.
“We have therefore revised routes throughout the country to ensure they are fairer and reflect the growth in addresses and parcel deliveries. Areas in Gloucester have been the subject of such revisions.”
