The Royal Mail's Chief Executive Moya Greene has rejected a petition signed by 230 Hollingbourne residents to keep popular local postman Troy Cooper in the village. His last day in the Hollingbourne was today. Please Read More for the text of a letter from the office of Ms Greene to Christopher Rudgard who organised the petition which was also handed to local MP High Robertson yesterday.
Dear Mr Rudgard
Thank you for your recent enquiry sent to Moya Greene on behalf of the residents of Hollingbourne. Moya has asked me to reply to you.
It is always great to receive recognition about our delivery colleagues and I appreciate the support expressed about Troy and to hear he has provided such a high standard of service. Therefore I am sorry to hear about the concern that you and fellow residents have regarding the change.
Royal Mail is currently going through a business modernisation. This will affect all of our operational sites as we implement new working practices and efficiency measures. Faced with declining overall mail volumes and increasingly tough trading conditions we are constantly reviewing the operational efficiency and commercial practicality of all our units. We are investing in new technology and equipment and upgrading operational facilities in order to ensure that we have the facilities which provide the most efficient network for delivering the post.
As part of our business modernisation plan the delivery unit within your area is being relocated to a purpose built building in Parkwood, Maidstone. This will provide the new energy saving measures and technology to help our people safely handle the increased amount of larger size mail from the home shopping market. It will also provide new and improved working conditions.
The changes in working practices and in some cases working locations will affect all of our people directly. We are committed to managing these changes with care. Therefore we have agreements with the Communication Workers Union (CWU) regarding how we apply the change. The agreement with the CWU includes a re-pick of duties based on seniority. This is also being applied as a ballot was held and an overwhelming majority voted to have the re-pick.
I am so sorry that this has led to Troy Cooper moving to another duty. I appreciate that change can impact on customers and how we serve your interest. I hope now that I have explained, you can understand the reason for the change and that we must keep to our agreements for fairness and consistency, without exception. The standard and quality of service we provide to our customers is paramount. There should be no affects to the quality of the service provided to your area. If you ever have any experiences of failure in our service please can you contact me.
Once again thank you for taking the time to write to us and for sharing the concern of the residents in Hollingbourne.
Kind Regards
Gary Redmond
Chief Executive Office
Royal Mail HQ
100 Victoria Embankment
LONDON
EC4Y 0HQ
A new postman will start in Hollingbourne from Monday 11th February.
