EP Group made a number of other legally-binding undertakings to the Government as part of the bid. These include maintaining key services under Royal Mail’s universal service obligation for the next five years, such as the one-price-goes-anywhere system and Saturday deliveries for first class post. Mr Kretinsky has agreed to …
Read More »How Royal Mail’s letters crisis left it vulnerable to the Czech Sphinx
Costs have not fallen alongside the lower volumes. Royal Mail has blamed the restrictive framework for its hefty losses of £319m in the first half of the year, as well as for a slump in service quality that sparked a record £5.6m fine from Ofcom. Earlier this month, Royal Mail …
Read More »Royal Mail’s failure to deliver letters on time is a danger to public health
SIR – I received an NHS letter postmarked February 9 at 12.30pm on February 16. My X-ray appointment was for 3pm. Thankfully I was able to attend. Had the appointment been sooner, it would have been another one missed. Catherine Pepinster (Comment, April 4) is right that Royal Mail holds …
Read More »Royal Mail hires new boss who triggered strike threat at Heathrow
Mr Thompson stepped down after just two years at the helm after facing disruptive strike action led by the Communication Workers Union (CWU) over pay and working conditions. The former Apple and Ocado executive sought to modernise Royal Mail by refocusing its delivery business towards parcels, amid fierce competition from …
Read More »The Royal Mail must have a death wish
Has Royal Mail got some kind of death wish? Has its reputation not been trashed enough? Does it want, perhaps, to end all deliveries entirely and finally succumb to a wriggling, complaining last breath after decades of deterioration? We now learn that it is going to charge businesses a special …
Read More »Saturday post ‘under review’ as struggling Royal Mail looks to cut costs
In a letter to the Business Select Committee in June, he wrote: “The ability to send and receive letters and parcels is important both socially and economically. This is particularly true for consumers who might be more vulnerable.” Ofcom will publish evidence later in the year on how demand is …
Read More »3.9 million working days lost to strike action in the UK is highest since the 80s
The number of working days lost to strikes has hit the highest level since the late 1980s. Some 3.9 million working days have been lost to industrial action in the past year, the highest annual figure since the 4.1m days lost in 1989. The figure illustrates the scale of public …
Read More »Royal Mail appoints German boss to navigate the death of letters
The German has taken home in excess of £3m over the last two years, more than double the £1.3m paid to outgoing Royal Mail chief Simon Thompson over the same period. The task facing Seidenberg cannot be underestimated. One of the worst campaigns of industrial action in a generation drew …
Read More »Royal Mail has no more excuses to avoid fixing its failing business
The problem is that the USO can only be scrapped with Parliament’s say-so and it is refusing to play ball, business minister Kevin Hollinrake has announced. “As you will be aware, we currently have no plans to change the minimum requirements of the universal postal service,” he said in a …
Read More »Amazon recruits Evri amid Royal Mail delivery woes
Amazon has parachuted in Evri to assist with deliveries as Royal Mail grapples with poor performance in the wake of a long-running industrial dispute. The US tech giant has added Evri – formerly known as Hermes – alongside Royal Mail and DPD to deliver goods on behalf of businesses that …
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