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Fresh calls for a freer post
Page 10
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• by Guy Sheppard The end of Royal Mail's monopoly on postal services by 2006 will open up huge opportunities for hauliers and parcel carriers.
Postcomm, which regulates the UK postal service, says a phased removal of all restrictions is vital if the quality of postal services is to improve.
Chairman Graham Corbett says: The greatest risk is to do nothing and to preside over a worsening monopoly postal service." Under Postcomm's proposals, the private sector would be able to collect and deliver bulk mailings of at least 4,000 items from April, exposing 30% of the letters business to competition, Bulk mailing includes bills, bank statements and junk mail.
From April 2004, the threshold would be lowered so that 60% of the letters business is exposed to competition. From March 2006, all restrictions on market entry would be removed. The proposals will undergo a six-week consultation period before they can be implemented. They are bitterly opposed by union leaders and Consignia, the company that owns Royal Mail and Parcelforce.
Early beneficiaries from liberalisation are Hays, Business Post, Deya, TNT and 133 Worldwide (UK) because Postcomm has already given them 12-month licences to run pilot postal schemes.
Paul Carvell, chief executive of Birmingham-based Business Post, says it now plans to expand its operation and use all 63 of its depots instead of the 12 covered by the licence.
Industry sources say other likely competitors are global parcel delivery services, such as DHL and UPS, as well as global postal operators, such as TPG, the Dutch postal operator which acquired TNT in 1996. Securicor Omega Express. which is owned partly by Deutsche Post, says it is evaluating Postcomm's proposals.