Royal Mail

[MikeMcc]

What I don't understand is why the Royal Mail isn't massively profitable anyway. With the massive growth in online shopping everything has to be delivered, surely they should be making money hand over fist?

Most online deliveries are parcel post, most of which is dealt with via other companies.

 

[MikeMcc]

To be fair RM never had access to requisite capital. Both KPN and Deutsche Post were both privatised and floated in the mid 90s. Then they were both able to raise funds to modernise and acquire global logisitics brands (TNT and DHL).

Keeping RM shackled to the state for so long means it is no longer in a position to compete and will inevitably end being TNT (UK).

Which is why postage using those services is somewhat higher than RM's postage (painful though that is!).

 

[Stay Beautiful]

Most online deliveries are parcel post, most of which is dealt with via other companies.

Standard parcels up to 20kg are part of the Universal Service Oligation. We regained this responsibility from Parcelforce a few years back. Therefore the vast majority are sent using RM.

 

[sihhi]

Just watching the statement to the House now. In two paragraphs we had him (McFadden, is it? Never heard of him. Mandy is in the Lords so an underling from the BERR has to speak to the Commons but he's not exactly a household name)

Anyway, two paragraphs we had him pledge loyalty to a publically owned Royal Mail...

...and then say they have entered an agreement with Dutch company TNT to help with "delivery of modernisation" or somesuch.

Interestingly (erstwhile Lib Dem councillor) Liam your party is rehiring Labour's chosen hit squad UBS to advise on part-privatisation:

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100811-704609.html

 

[trevhagl]

Perhaps if the RM had kept up with it's European counterparts instead of flatly refusing to modernise it's logistics operations it wouldn't be up the shitter now.

you wouldn't be saying that if you were working for them

 

[platinumsage]

Royal Mail has done an Alphabet, it's now International Distributions Services.

Yes that's a double plural.

 

[Louis MacNeice]

Royal Mail has done an Alphabet, it's now International Distributions Services.

Yes that's a double plural.

Yep and we are getting new uniforms with an IDS logo and silhouette of the erstwhile Tory leader over our hearts.

Cheers - Louis MacNeice

 

[Louis MacNeice]

The above isn't true. It's just the holding company name that is changing; even the jokers in charge of Royal Mail can recognise the value of the branding....they just don't want to do the hard graft that created the brand.

Cheers - Louis MacNeice