Royal Mail running out of money in April 2011 ?

[NWpostie]

Been talking to a former supervisor who has gone back as a Postman because of stress, he relocated back to my Office, he was telling me that its been estimated that by next April if things don't change, Royal Mail will not be able to pay anybody by April 2011.

If thats the case, the Govt will either have to bail us out or as he has hinted they may well sell us off.

Thoughts ? anybody better informed than me care to tell me whats going on ?

[number one]

Sounds like bollox to be honest!! "if things carry on" what like if the keep making £300m a year profit they will not be able to pay us??

[brunswick]

a £600 million fine for poor service turns that profit into a £300 million loss, the power of the pen eh!

[smudger83]

vote yes

[fmrPOSTIE]

Absolute rubbish.

[krussel]

a £600 million fine for poor service turns that profit into a £300 million loss, the power of the pen eh!

And like Government Management and DSA they are the same thing PARASITES that feed off of us and the public! Sorry to say this but bring it on! It will hurt in the short term but will expose them in the medium and if people choose? A decent service in the longterm for both workers and public! Heap it on and let C4 do a programe on the real demise of "our" service RM! RIP.

Err come again

[smokerjim]

Been talking to a former supervisor who has gone back as a Postman because of stress, he relocated back to my Office, he was telling me that its been estimated that by next April if things don't change, Royal Mail will not be able to pay anybody by April 2011.

i dont believe that a mere lino would be privvy to that kind of info - sounds of souring and grapes
how do these people go back as postman when there are massive job losses - they should leave the business

I don't have a problem with managers returning to a Blue Shirt ( if they are acting linoes, that is a frequent consequence ) but if they are full on mgrs, then they should be offered OPG jobs just the same as anyone else.....straight onto the reserve list with a PT contract - if I've been PT for 3.5 years I don't see why they can't be too. If any of them don't like it? "The door's over there, please make use of it."

[BELIAL]

On the down side we all would have to find alternative employment, But on the up side you would never get another bill And Crozier and his replacement would never get to buy a Caribbean second home and luxury yacht by screwing you over. On balance,I'd jump at the end of the postal system ,don't think big business would be too happy though

[krussel]

a £600 million fine for poor service turns that profit into a £300 million loss, the power of the pen eh!

And like Government Management and DSA they are the same thing PARASITES that feed off of us and the public! Sorry to say this but bring it on! It will hurt in the short term but will expose them in the medium and if people choose? A decent service in the longterm for both workers and public! Heap it on and let C4 do a programe on the real demise of "our" service RM! RIP.

Err come again

Sorry Postcom. http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-storie ... -22073051/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ok read that

I assume the 78% rate was due to the dispute I ve never known us drop this low before without ind action but i dont think absorbtion helps our performance either

[axeman]

a £600 million fine for poor service turns that profit into a £300 million loss, the power of the pen eh!

'some rob you with a six gun and some with a fountain pen'

[DirtyHarry]

Been talking to a former supervisor who has gone back as a Postman because of stress, he relocated back to my Office, he was telling me that its been estimated that by next April if things don't change, Royal Mail will not be able to pay anybody by April 2011.

If thats the case, the Govt will either have to bail us out or as he has hinted they may well sell us off.

Thoughts ? anybody better informed than me care to tell me whats going on ?

Errrr, as long as taxes are being paid in to the treasury, such a circumstance should never arise.
We are not a private company. The Royal Mail is a public service exclusively funded by the taxpayer.

[krussel]

I think so? What do Postcon do with the fines they force RM to pay?

Prob give it to TNT

[Big Daz]

RM have been fined before in the past!!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4700190.stm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Royal Mail is facing a record £11.4m fine for failing to adequately prevent mail being lost, damaged or stolen.

Regulator Postcomm said Royal Mail was guilty of "serious breaches" of its licence in relation to mail security measures and staff vetting.

Postcomm launched an investigation in 2004 after media reports claimed that some staff were tampering with mail.

Royal Mail said it would appeal against the fine - the largest ever proposed by the regulator - calling it "unfair".

Royal Mail could also be fined £270,000 for poor delivery performance in London during 2004-5.

'Serious shortcomings'

Royal Mail has admitted that more than 14 million letters and parcels were lost, stolen, damaged or tampered with last year.

However, it insists that its service is one of the safest in the world.


In its investigation, Postcomm found that many Royal Mail agency staff were not properly vetted before being employed and that this had compromised the safety of deliveries.

It also concluded that co-ordination of measures to prevent theft and damage were "ineffective" and that Royal Mail had failed to adequately monitor the effectiveness of its own procedures.

"Customers are entitled to expect that when they post mail it will reach its destination," said Nigel Stapleton, Postcomm's chairman.

"A Postcomm review uncovered serious shortcomings in Royal Mail's application of its procedures for properly protecting the mail."

'Unreasonable'

Postcomm said Royal Mail had made significant efforts to tackle the problem over the past nine months.

However, it said the proposed fine of £11.3m reflected the "extent and seriousness" of the identified shortcomings, most of which could be put down to "management failings".


Royal Mail said the fine was "unreasonable", stressing that it had significantly tightened up its security procedures since 2004.

The amount of lost mail had halved over the last three years, it said, while stolen mail accounted for just 0.001% of the 22 billion items handled every year.

It also stressed that the money spent on paying the fine could be better used to improve customer service.

"Clearly we have substantially improved," chief executive Adam Crozier told the BBC.

"But clearly it is very important we continue to improve our service. We are aware of that."

But consumer watchdog Postwatch said it supported the fine, arguing that Royal Mail had "let its customers down".

'Tough action'

"Tough action is necessary and it would have played to Royal Mail's complacency not to impose a penalty," said Postwatch chairman Millie Banerjee.

"The fact is, letters are still being lost daily; some are stolen, many are misdelivered."

Under legislation passed in 2000, Postcomm has the right to fine Royal Mail up to 10% of its annual turnover if it is found to have breached its licence obligations.

Royal Mail was fined £7.5m in 2003 - the largest fine levied to date - after it was found to have missed performance standards for delivering business mail.

[Big Daz]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4725028.stm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Royal Mail has been hit with its second multi-million pound fine in a week.

Regulator Postcomm proposed the £2.16m fine because the company had failed to take adequate steps to ensure it did not gain "unfair commercial advantage".

Royal Mail said it could take legal action and seek a judicial review to overturn the fine.

The fine follows a £11.4m penalty imposed over the amount of post being lost, damaged or stolen, which Royal Mail is also appealing against.

Private post companies Express, TNT Mail and UK Mail complained about Royal Mail's competitive behaviour in the newly-liberalised market last year.

Royal Mail charges a fee to deliver mail collected by its competitors.


We cannot allow any actions by Royal Mail that unfairly keep competitors out of the market
Postcomm chairman Nigel Stapleton

And it is alleged the company used sensitive information gleaned from these rivals to gain an unfair advantage.

Postcomm said Royal Mail was damaging confidence in the postal market by contravening its licence.

Chairman Nigel Stapleton said the regulator was surprised Royal Mail "did not think it needed to" impose "internal separation arrangements that prevent conflicts of interest and the exchange of confidential information between teams working on different projects... in a fully professional manner".

Royal Mail has a 97% share of the postal market.

And Mr Stapleton said that meant customers would never feel the benefit of the free market "unless the playing field is made as level as possible for the new operators".

"Postcomm has to enforce the rules for a postal market where, in the interests of customers, there is effective competition," he added.



"We cannot allow any actions by Royal Mail that unfairly keep competitors out of the market."

Postwatch chief executive Gregor McGregor called it "astonishing and deeply worrying that Royal Mail has had to be told... to put in place internal structures that prevent competitors' commercially sensitive information being used to gain unfair advantage".

"Building customer and competitor confidence and ensuring a level playing field are essential if the UK postal market is to flourish," he added.

"The postal market is immature, but developing rapidly.

"It was essential that Postcomm take action to protect the competitive market and we are pleased it has."

The consumer watchdog added it expected any future penalties for anti-competitive behaviour to be substantially bigger.


But Royal Mail chairman Allan Leighton said: "There are no substantiated complaints and no examples of Royal Mail failing to fulfil its access agreements, which allow rivals to use Royal Mail's sorting and delivery network in a way no other European postal company permits.

"The simple truth is no competitor has lost out, no customer has lost out, and Royal Mail has made no gain from the way in which we operate access services.

"This is almost Monty Pythonesque - by Postcomm's line of thinking I have absolutely no doubt that later this year the regulator will fine us for delivering the best quality of service ever due to the fact that they decide it is anti-competitive.

"This is a shoddy report from a grandstanding regulator who is looking to micro-manage the entire postal industry.

"It is full of unsubstantiated and subjective views, which are not based in fact.

Security measures

"This huge and arbitrary penalty is illogical - it is regulation for the sake of regulation."

"Our independent legal advice as to the strength of our case is extremely clear, and we will exhaust every possible route to ensure this ridiculous penalty is wiped out."

Royal Mail has 28 days to appeal against the fine.

On 10 February, Postcomm proposed an £11.4m fine after finding Royal Mail guilty of "serious breaches" of its licence in relation to mail security measures and staff vetting.

Royal Mail could also be fined £270,000 for poor delivery performance in London during 2004-5.

Under legislation passed in 2000, Postcomm has the right to fine Royal Mail up to 10% of its annual turnover if it is found to have breached its licence obligations.

Royal Mail was fined £7.5m in 2003 - the largest fine levied to date - after it was found to have missed performance standards for delivering business mail.

[Big Daz]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3152290.stm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Royal Mail is to be fined £7.5m for failing to meet quality targets in its business post service, regulator Postcomm has announced.

The fine, the biggest imposed by an industry regulator, will come as a major financial blow to Royal Mail, which is battling to cut costs and stem massive losses.

It comes after the Royal Mail failed to improve two of its pre-paid envelope services, of the type used by photographic labs, after being ordered to do so in December.

The regulator said performance remained 6% below agreed targets for the year for both services.

Strike threat

Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier said: "This heavy £7.5m fine further tightens the financial pressure on Royal Mail."


I hope this penalty will drive home to people at all levels in the Royal Mail the message that customer service matters
Graham Corbett, Postcomm chairman
He said the decision was a "stark warning" to postal workers set to hold a 24-hour walkout in London tomorrow (Wednesday) in a row over pay in the capital.

"It is unlikely that the regulator will make any allowance for falls in customer service caused by a strike," Mr Crozier said.

He added such action was "madness" and could end up costing the Royal Mail up to £10m in fines.

"Some of the London postcodes areas are among the worst performing in the country. If Royal Mail is to hit its targets... it's vital that service in London improves."

Pay-out plans

Postcomm said that the fine, the first it has imposed, took into account the fact that there is no mechanism, as yet, to directly compensate customers affected by the poor service.

However, the regulator added it will finalise a compensation scheme shortly.

Postcomm chairman Graham Corbett said: "Most businesses lose customers and lose money when they provide poor service.

"I hope this penalty will drive home to people at all levels in the Royal Mail the message that customer service matters."

The fines relate to two services: First Class Post Paid Impression (PPI) and First Class Response Services.

In December, the Royal Mail was issued with an enforcement order as it had failed to meet the target of 92.5% next day delivery for the two services.

During February and March 2003, just 86.3% of PPI and 86.8% of First Class Response Services reached their destinations the next day.

Following an investigation Postcomm ruled the Royal Mail had failed to use "reasonable endeavours" to improve delivery times.

Postcomm said: "The Commission believes Royal Mail had not followed its own audit processes in checking service quality and had not made all reasonable endeavours to meet the service standards consistently across the country."

The Royal Mail now has 28 days to appeal.

Otherwise it will have to pay up, in one instalment, in 49 days time.