Martin Kirby Column; The Last Post

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CLOSURE WAS ALWAYS IN THE BAG

Back in March, I said that I had little faith in Royal Mail's assertion that any possibility of closing Gloucester's main sorting office was "a six-month process and all options will be considered, nothing has been decided"…etc. Far be it from me to say I told you so, but we now know that Royal Mail is to sell the Eastern Avenue centre.

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I realise the management have said there will be no compulsory redundancies but if you live in Gloucester and are offered a job in Swindon or Bristol, the increased cost of getting there amounts to a pay cut – not to mention the impact on family life in terms of travelling time.

Gloucester's MP, Richard Graham, sees no alternative but that's hardly surprising because the Government is desperate to sell-off Royal Mail to a private postal company at the earliest opportunity, so it has to be slimmed-down to be attractive.

For me, the statement by Michael Kennedy, Royal Mail's South West process and collections director, says it all; "Change is absolutely essential to meet customers' expectations of a world class postal service, ensure we operate efficiently and provide a great quality of service in a smaller and radically changing market." Or in other words, only a lean, mean, cost-cutting Royal Mail will be of interest to a foreign investor.

I believe we still have a great postal service and any shortcomings are due to the aforementioned cuts rather than staff inefficiency. Put it this way, at the moment, for 60 pence you can post a letter in John 'O Groats and it will be taken to Land's End. If anybody knows of anything that gives better value for money, I'd like to hear about it.