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“Real and tangible consequences” are befalling Inverness businesses because of repeated delays and non-delivery of urgent mail.
That’s the warning of Inverness Business Improvement District (BID) after calling for Royal Mail bosses to engage with local companies to try to remedy the situation.
BID, which represents more than 750 businesses and property owners, says that delays have repeatedly been reported by members at times when the city centre’s “exceptional” regular postal worker is on leave.
And they say this is posing potentially serious problems for some members, such as legal firms who are heavily reliant on the need for a reliable and timely postal service, as well as other companies receiving utility bills.
• READ MORE: Inverness had nearly six times more late letters than Royal Mail target, experiment finds
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BID added that members had reported missing legal, financial and contractual correspondence, “creating avoidable operational and commercial risk within these sectors”.
The issue has now reared its head often enough that BID attempted to reach out to local Royal Mail bosses for face-to-face meetings to discuss the matter “and work collaboratively towards solutions”.
But these approaches, which were made by mailed and hand-delivered letters to Inverness’s Seafield Road delivery office on January 20 and again earlier this month, went unanswered.
A spokesperson for the BID Board explained: “City centre businesses, including those operating within professional and legal services, rely on a consistent and reliable postal service.
“The service provided by our regular postie is exceptional, and we stress that the issues we are highlighting only occur when this member of staff is on annual leave.
“We do recognise the pressures facing Royal Mail nationally however, the lack of engagement locally is extremely disappointing. Our businesses affected have suffered real and tangible consequences as a result of these delivery failures, and we would welcome engagement from local senior representatives who may be in a position to help resolve the matter.”
The BID Board said it is now calling on Royal Mail to engage “as a matter of urgency” to ensure that city centre businesses can “rely on this basic but essential service”.
Responding to the concerns, a spokesperson for Royal Mail said that whenever issues arose it worked locally to restore regular deliveries “as quickly as possible”.
Addressing the lack of response to BID’s letters that were posted and hand-delivered to the delivery office, it stressed that correspondence sent in such a manner might not reach the “appropriate team for review” and encouraged customers to “contact us directly so concerns can be investigated and the right team can respond”.
The spokesperson said: “Leaving a letter at a delivery office customer service point does not always mean the issue has reached the appropriate team for review, particularly where it is not addressed to a named contact or submitted through our formal enquiry channels.
“We would encourage customers and organisations to contact us directly so concerns can be investigated and the right team can respond. We will ensure the details shared are passed to the relevant managers.
“The vast majority of mail in the Inverness area is delivered as expected, and our latest independently verified results show 74.7 per cent of first class mail is delivered the next working day, broadly in line with national performance, with the near total arriving in the days that follow.
“Where short-term issues do arise, such as recent delays caused by severe weather or sick absence, we will work locally to restore regular deliveries as quickly as possible.”
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