interestrateripoff Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/11/26/uk-royal-mail-regulator-idUKKCN0JA0Y020141126 Royal Mail warned that competition from rivals such as Whistl could make it financially impossible to fulfil its legal obligation to deliver mail across the whole of country, six days a week. The postal operator, formerly state-owned before it was privatised last year, is required by law to provide this so-called universal service at a uniform pricing tariff. Appearing before a parliamentary investigation into competition in the sector, Royal Mail Chief Executive Moya Greene said the emergence of rival delivery services able to focus on densely populated, profitable areas was putting pressure on the company. "If you allow cherry picking in the urban areas you undermine the economics," Greene said on Wednesday. "It siphons off very quickly a lot of revenue - more revenue than can be offset by even very vigorous efficiency measures and it makes the universal service unfinanceable and uneconomic." Now it's a private company it's hard to see how they will maintain the 6 day a week delivery as it's clearly a loss maker. Still thankfully bringing in private competition will mean we have the best delivery service in the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Goggles Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Of course, none of this was in any way predictable. So the options are: - Force competitors to deliver nationally at a uniform price tariff. - Allow people in remote areas to be charged more by Royal Mail (or their coverage removed). - Use tax-payers' money to subsidise the former nationalised provider to fulfil its service guarantee, thereby privatising the profits and socialising the losses. Place you bets... And let me reiterate. None of this was or is in any way predictable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Of course, none of this was in any way predictable. So the options are: - Force competitors to deliver nationally at a uniform price tariff. - Allow people in remote areas to be charged more by Royal Mail (or their coverage removed). - Use tax-payers' money to subsidise the former nationalised provider to fulfil its service guarantee, thereby privatising the profits and socialising the losses. Place you bets... And let me reiterate. None of this was or is in any way predictable. Or Give royal mail done competitive advantage in main cities to permit excess profits to subsidise loss makers Force people in remote areas to pay to have their mail delivered Force local authorities to subsidise mail deliveries in marginal areas Reduce delivery frequency Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Wasn't this always the plan? Impossible to get rid of the service guarantees while it was still a public service. Sell it off, tell everyone that the regulator will ensure that rural deliveries and 7-day deliveries will be maintained. Then not even a year later start talking about commercial pressures. Goodbye universal mail service. If people wanted reliable post they shouldn't have moved to the countryside. Or they should pay quadruple. Or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Errol Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Yawn. All so predictable. This country is getting worse and worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNACR Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Every courier will deliver next day to anywhere in the country, for the same tariff, apart from the absolute extremities of Scotland and NI. It's just another case, in a long line of many, of highly unionised workforce, that blocks modernisation, ends up destroying the company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Why do we need a universal daily service now anyway? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyres Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Consignia, remember that, I for one Welcome Our New Robotic Insect Overlords here in Cambridge Amazon to begin testing same-day delivery drones in Cambridge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oracle Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 (edited) Or Give royal mail done competitive advantage in main cities to permit excess profits to subsidise loss makers Force people in remote areas to pay to have their mail delivered Force local authorities to subsidise mail deliveries in marginal areas Reduce delivery frequency I guess they have to get their heads around the fact they are no longer a monopoly. local council and municipal services next!!!! as to reducing delivery frequency...well they need to follow a business plan that their customers need. they should look to the "easyjet" price schedule for letters. I think. that way you can choose ultra cheap tariff if you book long enough in advance and the delivery is not too urgent(probably ok for booking theater tickets or buying stuff off amazon) for last minute "business" communication that needs to arrive 9am the following day then an extra premium is charged... either that, or they need to invest in a new distibution system(see my crackpot maglev-sewage express mail-tube!) Edited November 26, 2014 by oracle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Errol Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Why do we need a universal daily service now anyway? Why should service get worse the more advanced and wealthy (supposedly) the world becomes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Why should service get worse the more advanced and wealthy (supposedly) the world becomes? Service is already much better by telephone and internet, we don't need daily mail deliveries for every day comms Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PopGun Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Privatized for 5 minutes and already gone to $hit. Just like everything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Privatized for 5 minutes and already gone to $hit. Just like everything else. Let's bring back publicly funded traction engines too whilst you're at it, I really miss em! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyguy Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Why do we need a universal daily service now anyway? With you on that. You could halve the number of foot posties by delivering only every other day. Gte some decent capital investment in and the cost will drop. A lot. RM working practives have been held back by a stroppy union and sh1t management. Strikes by posties are going to be like the strikes by fire service. In the days of oven chips (no chip pans), gas central heating (no open), efags (no matches/fags) the number of residential has dropped off massively. There's still RTAs but they would be better addressed by a special unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Si1 Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 With you on that. You could halve the number of foot posties by delivering only every other day. Gte some decent capital investment in and the cost will drop. A lot. RM working practives have been held back by a stroppy union and sh1t management. Strikes by posties are going to be like the strikes by fire service. In the days of oven chips (no chip pans), gas central heating (no open), efags (no matches/fags) the number of residential has dropped off massively. There's still RTAs but they would be better addressed by a special unit. Last year I had a few conversations with a chap who had spent some decades in lower management for royal mail, and also as a union rep; he said the senior union leaders were one and the same as the senior management and worked first and foremost to maximise their own benefits. He said they'd have rather allowed a fatal accident to occur than compromise on their greed, they were deeply evil, and he couldn't see any other option than privatising the royal mail. And this was an old fashioned non militant union man speaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spyguy Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Last year I had a few conversations with a chap who had spent some decades in lower management for royal mail, and also as a union rep; he said the senior union leaders were one and the same as the senior management and worked first and foremost to maximise their own benefits. He said they'd have rather allowed a fatal accident to occur than compromise on their greed, they were deeply evil, and he couldn't see any other option than privatising the royal mail. And this was an old fashioned non militant union man speaking. RM is what ~ 140 years old? Its a clique that's sewn the business up. Unions/management, different sides of the same coin. You've got the poor posty getting screwed on one end and the customer screwed on the other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frozen_out Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 Who'd a thunk it? I could never understand the crowd who proclaimed that a privatised service would suddenly become cheaper and better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNACR Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 Who'd a thunk it? I could never understand the crowd who proclaimed that a privatised service would suddenly become cheaper and better. It will have to though, to stay in business. Yes posting a letter will be more expensive but, who cares? The alternative is to prop it up with public money. Then you can use the wood from the state-owned forests, that simply must be saved, to print books, that can be delivered by post to public libraries while everyone sits at home, paying 20% vat on e-books to pay for nostalgic option to use those things, whilst never actually ever using them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear Goggles Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 Who'd a thunk it? I could never understand the crowd who proclaimed that a privatised service would suddenly become cheaper and better. It's perfectly reasonable to argue that the service should be profitable, and that a daily universal delivery service is an anachronism in an age where the majority of mail is delivered electronically, and given that parcels are already priced based on how quickly you want them and where you want them delivered to. The problem is that this was not how it was sold to the public. The politicians decided that they had to lie to us to make the sale happen. Pension liabilities etc. were pushed onto the state, then they got their mates from investment banks in to organise a sale process whose primary function was to make a fast buck for insiders at the expense of everyone else. Arguing about whether Royal Mail is better in the private vs the public sector just seems like a distraction in comparison to this act of dishonesty and corruption. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
interestrateripoff Posted November 27, 2014 Author Share Posted November 27, 2014 Last year I had a few conversations with a chap who had spent some decades in lower management for royal mail, and also as a union rep; he said the senior union leaders were one and the same as the senior management and worked first and foremost to maximise their own benefits. He said they'd have rather allowed a fatal accident to occur than compromise on their greed, they were deeply evil, and he couldn't see any other option than privatising the royal mail. And this was an old fashioned non militant union man speaking. I wouldn't disagree with that assessment. I think you can see some proof in that with the pensions, when Brown came knocking to steal from the workers pensions the Unions didn't strike or shout. If it had been the Tories there would have been uproar but because it was the nice Labour luvvies no one did feck all. All snouts in the trough. “The few who understand the system will either be so interested in its profits or be so dependent upon its favours that there will be no opposition from that class, while on the other hand, the great body of people, mentally incapable of comprehending the tremendous advantage that capital derives from the system, will bear its burdens without complaint, and perhaps without even suspecting that the system is inimical to their interests.” The Rothschild brothers of London writing to associates in New York, 1863. Rothschild wasn't wrong in this statement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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