Royal Mail Sweetens the Sell-Off with a 1Bn Property Dowry

[Geezer]

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[fishtank]

It's good to see that my belief that senior management were totally incompetent was a mistake.
My mistake was in judging them on their feeble attempts to run a delivery network when actually they were much more focussed on the property development market.
I humbly apologise but shouldn't we for the sake of clarity change our name to Close-it,Flatten-it & Flog-it?
Now...how much more of the network can we shut down and turn into flats and office space?

[hubbahubba]

Much the same as many brewerys these days.Tie the landlords into overpriced drinks and high rents,then sell the pubs for redevelopment.....

[chunk]

Its quite sickening when Times Business writers describe rm as having a loss making core.
these are "supposedly " well informed and educated people working for a prestigious newspaper!

we have because of the downstream access agreement been selling our services to our rivals at a loss !
we have also been servicing the pension shortfall (government created due to 17 year pension holiday)
the paying of redundancy payments to thousands of workers due to restructuringhas come out of recent annual budgets.

yet the times writers suggest that it would be a disservice to the taxpayer if we were sold to cheaply.
I agree!
But how has it not been a disservice to the taxpayer that countless millions in the last 7 years have been thrown at our competitors
via the downstream access agreement?

[craigyboy4677]

I dont see what the problem is tbh, if its not needed then sell it off and i totally agree with closing down nine elms. With it being so close to mount pleasant im sure the mount could cover the workload of both. im all for super mail centres dotted round the M25 like the new mail centre at hemel hempstead covering 3 old mail centres

[fishtank]

I dont see what the problem is tbh, if its not needed then sell it off and i totally agree with closing down nine elms. With it being so close to mount pleasant im sure the mount could cover the workload of both. im all for super mail centres dotted round the M25 like the new mail centre at hemel hempstead covering 3 old mail centres

We're not just talking about bricks and mortar though.
It's also jobs and earnings and costly and ridiculous travelling for members.
There's a difference between "not needed" and "can be done cheaper elsewhere".

[Lincox]

The other point craigboy is how do the public know that these developments that are owned by the people of this country, are being sold off at realistic values, whether the land could be put to better use, or is this going to be another major news story in a few years time, whereby someone has been getting huge backhanders for selling at below market values.

[Lounge Lizard]

Much the same as many brewerys these days.Tie the landlords into overpriced drinks and high rents,then sell the pubs for redevelopment.....

Except that's more the big Pub Companies than Breweries these days.
Regarding Mount Pleasant, given that it looks like continuing as a mail centre indefinately and that mail centre rationalisation will carry on surely it's short sighted selling off part of the site when in a few years they will be saying it's a shame we've no longer got the space to expand Mount Pleasant to incorporate another London MC - but that's like governments, just loooking to the next three or four years.

[craigyboy4677]

But the mail output is dropping every year so eventually all mail for central london will go through mt pleasant or am i not seeing the whole picture? And a billion pounds for some of the land? Is that it being sold for less than its value???

[Lounge Lizard]

But the mail output is dropping every year so eventually all mail for central london will go through mt pleasant or am i not seeing the whole picture? And a billion pounds for some of the land? Is that it being sold for less than its value???

But the Greek crisis will have spread across Europe and the land will be worth a fraction of the value quoted by the time it's sold, but the decision will already have been made a bit like Gordon selling all our gold when he did

[chunk]

But the mail output is dropping every year so eventually all mail for central london will go through mt pleasant or am i not seeing the whole picture? And a billion pounds for some of the land? Is that it being sold for less than its value???

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[Lincox]

1 Billion Pound is just a headline catcher. Will any sale be based on fair and open tendering, or will we have another scandal opened up in a few years time.

[chunk]

Theres a long history of British assets being sold off cheaply, 25 years ago
Thatcher sold British Gas shares under priced because she wanted a quick sale ,
As the government had spent millions on the infamous "tell sid campagn" it would have been politically damaging if there had been no demand. and it quickly create a hundreds of thousands of armchair investors !
the share owning democracy was short lived though with 90% of punters selling, as soon as the value came up to a realistic level and the shares mostly ended up in the hands of corporations.

[Lincox]

Absolutely Chunk.
All the crap from the Capatalists that we should rely on market forces is an absolute con. Markets are manipulated by the rich and big players. Price ringing, Share Prices reduced not by market forces but by scaremongering investment managers who sell stock high and then repurchase when low. Who pays for this? The small investor who does not have the experience, time or knowledge to really manage an investment portfolio. Mr average and below in this country is paying the price for the excesses of the rich who stop at nothing to maintain and increase their bank accounts and living standards. Where is Robin Hood when we need him.