Royal Mail chief warned over claims of ‘disturbing’ delivery failures

[dutchman]

Martin Seidenberg could be hauled in front of MPs amid ongoing row



The chief executive of Royal Mail has been warned he could be hauled in front of MPs over “disturbing” claims that the postal service is prioritising parcel deliveries over letters.

The Commons business and trade committee has demanded that Martin Seidenberg explain how the struggling company will improve punctuality, amid fresh claims that it is failing to meet its legal obligations.

It is the latest twist in a row between the company and MPs over the delivery of letters following previous clashes earlier this year.

Labour MP Liam Byrne, the committee chairman, said in a letter to Mr Seidenberg: “If the committee remains concerned about Royal Mail’s steps to improve its performance and the answers to the questions contained in this letter are unsatisfactory, the committee retains the right to summon you to provide further oral evidence.”

Under the so-called universal service obligation (USO), Royal Mail is required to deliver letters to any address in the UK, six days a week, for standard prices within a certain time.

But it has repeatedly failed to hit punctuality targets, incurring a £5.6m fine from Ofcom last month.

In a further blow, the company was accused last weekend of telling staff to leave letters behind in sorting offices so that more profitable parcels could be delivered first.

It has left households waiting for important correspondence, including hospital appointment letters, bank cards and bills, among other things.

The allegations, made by The Sunday Times after journalists went undercover at the postal service, contradict repeated assertions by Royal Mail that any such policy exists.

Royal Mail has repeatedly insisted that parcels are not being deprioritised. The company says it sometimes temporarily leaves letters behind during the busy Christmas period so as not to cause huge backlogs of bulky packages at mail offices.

Mr Byrne warned Mr Seidenberg that MPs were “deeply disturbed” by the allegations that “postal workers are still being asked to deliver parcels ahead of letters, despite it being illegal”.

He has also written to Ofcom, the regulator, to demand an update about what measures the watchdog would take to improve performance.

On Thursday, a spokesman for the Royal Mail declined to comment but confirmed it would respond to Mr Byrne’s letter.

He has asked for an answer by Jan 9.

The intervention comes after MPs clashed repeatedly with the company under former boss Simon Thompson, who left in October.

In hearings earlier this year, the committee took the unusual step of recalling Mr Thompson to give evidence a second time after his claim that parcels had not been prioritised was contradicted by staff whistleblowers.

[rebbonk]

Royal Mail should never have been sold off.

I also find it strange that a private enterprise is allowed to use the word 'Royal' in its name.

[dutchman]

Royal Mail to launch Amazon-style parcel lockers amid claims it’s neglecting letters



Royal Mail is preparing to launch Amazon-style parcel lockers to make it easier for customers to collect packages, amid claims that it is neglecting letters.

The company is exploring installing public lockers where parcels could be stored and then collected using a passcode, chief commercial officer Nick Landon told the Financial Times.

Lockers would mimic similar services offered by Amazon and other rivals, which allow people to pick up online packages at their own convenience rather than waiting at home for delivery men to arrive.

Mr Lindon said customers were “becoming increasingly reliant” on parcel lockers and Royal Mail needed to launch its own network to ensure it was “addressing all of the market”.

It comes as Royal Mail increasingly focuses on parcels in a battle to turn a profit. The company has said it wants to “build a more balanced and diverse parcels-led, international business.”

While around 70pc of Royal Mail’s revenues come from packages, the company has been losing market share to rivals such as DPD and Evri, as well as Amazon’s own proprietary delivery network.

Amazon currently operates around 5,000 delivery lockers across the UK, while fellow courier Evri has about 1,500.

Plans to launch its own lockers come as Royal Mail has been accused of neglecting letters to focus on parcels.

Managers and workers at the company are claimed to have admitted that first-class letters were being left behind in local sorting offices so that parcels, which are typically more profitable, can be delivered instead. The allegations were made following an undercover investigation by The Sunday Times.

Parliament’s business and trade committee has demanded answers from Royal Mail chief Martin Seidenberg over what it called “disturbing” allegations.

[dutchman]

Royal Mail hails best Christmas for four years – but staff miss £500 bonus



Royal Mail has said it had its best Christmas for four years, with nearly all festive deliveries arriving on time – despite missing a target that would have handed postal workers a £500 bonus.

The delivery company’s owner, International Distributions Services (IDS), on Thursday reported group revenues rose nearly 10% to £3.6bn in the final three months of 2023.

It said more than 99% of first- and second-class items that were posted by the last recommended posting date were delivered in time for Christmas.

However, the Observer revealed this month that targets that would have paid out a £500 bonus to employees were missed over the period.

In November, the company announced a “one-off quality incentive scheme” to try to avoid a repeat of Christmas 2022, when days of strikes disrupted deliveries. Some its 128,000 employees could have earned up to £500 extra for “hitting local and national quality targets”.

However, the national element of the target was missed, limiting the payout to a maximum of £250. It is understood that staff at about 1,000 delivery offices received some of the bonus.

IDS said it expected to make an operating profit in the second half of the financial year that would “broadly offset” the £169m loss in the first half. Investors reacted positively, with shares rising by more than 2% at one point on Thursday.

Total parcel volumes increased 21% during the quarter, compared with a strike-hit period the previous year. This was helped by the return of some big retail customers – as well as small and medium-sized businesses – using the company to handle products.

Christmas represented a brighter end to a year in which , Simon Thompson, departed as chief executive after just two years after the conclusion of a long-running industrial dispute,the company was hit by a ransomware attack and was fined £5.6m for missing targets for punctual deliveries of letters.

The IDS chief executive, Martin Seidenberg, who also direct responsibility for Royal Mail as it searches for a chief executive, said the “extraordinary efforts” of its employees “led to a marked improvement in both trading and operational performance for Royal Mail over Christmas and we have continued to win-back customers. We need to build on this momentum”.

The company said letter volumes were down 31% on pre-pandemic levels. Revenues from letters rose 11.8% because of rising stamp prices, but it said inflation and pay awards had pushed up costs.

[dutchman]

Delivery company says nearly all festive deliveries arrived on time