Royal Mail closer to ending Saturday letter deliveries after Ofcom review

[TrueBlueTerrier]

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/royal ... 34848.html

Royal Mail has moved a step closer to scrapping Saturday letter deliveries after research from the postal regulator found there would be no significant impact on consumers.

Ofcom, which estimates the move could save Royal Mail £225m a year, said cutting Saturday deliveries would still allow the company to “meet the needs of nearly all people and businesses”.

A comprehensive review of the postal market conducted by Ofcom found that a six-day-a-week letter delivery meets the needs of 98% of residential users and 97% of small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in the UK. Cutting back to five days a week would still meet 97% of the needs of residential and SMEs.

Ofcom has estimated this could help Royal Mail cut costs by £125m-£225m a year.

“Our research suggests that people’s needs would still be met if letter deliveries were reduced from six days a week to five,” said Lindsey Fussell, Ofcom’s networks and communications group director.

“It would ultimately be for parliament to decide whether the change is needed. However, Royal Mail must still modernise and become more efficient, to keep pace with customers’ changing needs.”

In September, Royal Mail, which delivered 1.1bn fewer letters in the five months to the end of August compared with the same period last year, hinted that Saturday letter deliveries were no longer essential.

Royal Mail is keen to focus on parcel delivery, which is booming thanks to the online shopping revolution. The company reported a 31% increase in UK parcel volumes between April and September, as home deliveries boom during the pandemic.

However, in the last six months, letter volumes have fallen by around a third. “To stay relevant and sustainable, the universal service must adapt to life in the 21st century,” said Keith Williams, the interim executive chairman at Royal Mail.

“The reduction in letter volumes has had a significant impact on the finances of the universal service, which lost £180m in the first half of the year. This, along with our own comprehensive customer research, demonstrates the need to rebalance the universal service in line with growing consumer demand for parcels and lower usage of letters.”

Ofcom’s annual monitoring report published on Thursday found that 2.8bn parcels were sent and received in the UK in the year to the end of March 2020 – 1bn more than in 2013. The volume of letters has fallen by about 5% each year since 2015, as people move to digital communications, according to Ofcom.

However, Ofcom also said the cost savings made by cutting Saturday letter deliveries was not enough on its own to make Royal Mail sustainable over the long term.

Ofcom also gauged consumer reaction to other features of the universal service, including scrapping the first-class service and creating a single service offering a two-day delivery speed.

The research found this option, which would be slower than first-class mail but faster than second class currently, would not “have a large impact on users’ acceptability of the service”. However, Ofcom said the option would have limited scope for cost savings and would risk reduced revenues.

Under its universal service obligation, Royal Mail is required to deliver letters six days a week and parcels five days a week to every address in the UK at a standard price. Royal Mail exceeds its obligation relating to parcels, with a six-day service, but Ofcom’s research found consumers would be “largely indifferent” if it was reduced to five days.

In June, Royal Mail revealed a cost-cutting plan that will lead to the loss of 2,000 management jobs by March, in areas including IT, finance, marketing and sales. The company’s 90,000 postal workers would not be affected by the cuts, Royal Mail said at the time.

Last year, its former chief executive, Rico Back, set out a five-year £1.8bn turnaround plan to revamp Royal Mail as an international parcel-led business. But changes have been held back by strikes. The company has long been at loggerheads with trade unions about changes to working practices.

[wallan]

One Class Of Letter , Next Day Delivery In The MC Collection / Delivery Area , Day After The Rest

[rogersh]

https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/royal ... 34848.html

But changes have been held back by strikes.

What strikes were these then?

[deltaforce]

Bit of an urban myth, us always being on strike. I can count on one hand on how many national strikes there have been in my time on the job, since 1982.

[Rommagic]

Axe Saturday letters from January?.

[hans solo]

when they stopped letters on the sat earlier in the pandemic the mondays were are a complete disaster cut offs all over

[richietns]

when they stopped letters on the sat earlier in the pandemic the mondays were are a complete disaster cut offs all over

Yes but was that not with one in a van,might work after pandemic.

[2yearpostie]

All reserves to be sacked

[citypostie]

when they stopped letters on the sat earlier in the pandemic the mondays were are a complete disaster cut offs all over

But that was just a temporary fix they rushed in, I'm sure if it's a permanent thing it will all be planned and implemented to make sure the same doesn't happen again! I mean royal mail always plan ahead don't they?

[Celgar]

Axe Saturday letters from January?.

No. I was under the impression this would be implemented in April 2022.
It sounds like holding back the DSA when there is only one item of mail to deliver is coming in from January 2021.
The change to DSA is more problematic and resembles the every other day delivery systems which have been implemented in other countries.

[SpacePhoenix]

It sounds like holding back the DSA when there is only one item of mail to deliver is coming in from January 2021.
The change to DSA is more problematic and resembles the every other day delivery systems which have been implemented in other countries.

I can't see how it's going to work. In MCs it'll get processed as normal, including the mech mail so you're still going to have to prep it into your walk frames. You're going to have to go through the mail on your walk prep frame, you packets, SDs and Tracked to see which addresses have mail in addition to any DSA item. Surely it's going to take longer?

[Manboat]

It sounds like holding back the DSA when there is only one item of mail to deliver is coming in from January 2021.
The change to DSA is more problematic and resembles the every other day delivery systems which have been implemented in other countries.

I can't see how it's going to work. In MCs it'll get processed as normal, including the mech mail so you're still going to have to prep it into your walk frames. You're going to have to go through the mail on your walk prep frame, you packets, SDs and Tracked to see which addresses have mail in addition to any DSA item. Surely it's going to take longer?

It’s happening now anyway as not enough time to do all the mail with the uptake in parcels, this new ds5 or whatever it’s called just makes it official to leave in, it is a bit time consuming but saves a lot of time outdoors which isn’t good in the long run for job security

[yellowbelly]

It sounds like holding back the DSA when there is only one item of mail to deliver is coming in from January 2021.
The change to DSA is more problematic and resembles the every other day delivery systems which have been implemented in other countries.

I can't see how it's going to work. In MCs it'll get processed as normal, including the mech mail so you're still going to have to prep it into your walk frames. You're going to have to go through the mail on your walk prep frame, you packets, SDs and Tracked to see which addresses have mail in addition to any DSA item. Surely it's going to take longer?

Perhaps RM will want the D+5 envelope to have a particular coloured edging/stripes like the housing benefit(?)
letters have a green stripes round the edges to make them easier to distinguish from other stuff - just a thought.
Still going to be difficult though.