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.comDECEMBER 2013THE ROYAL MAIL NEWSPAPER
* The 9.06% increase represents the expected compounded
increase in salary between now and 2015/16.
** Pro rata for part-time employees.
Legally binding terms covering industrial stability and employee protections9.06%* pay increase over three years + £200 lump sum** in year one
Joint commitment to radically improve industrial relations and create a can-do culture
2 December 2013
DISTRIBUTIONTo notify HR of a change of address, employees should email [email protected] or write to The HR Service Centre, Pond Street, Sheffield S98 6HR. Pensioners should write to Pensions Services Centre, PO Box 500, Chesterfield S49 1WX.
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Moya GreeneMY VIEW
Moya is keen to hear from you through the Just Say It channel. Moya will reply to all who take part. To get in touch, email [email protected] or write to Just Say It, Freepost
GET IN TOUCH WITH MOYA
MOYA ON DELIVERING…
Deputy editor: Jo Gurman
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Courier, 24-26 Great Suffolk Street, London SE1 0UE
Follow us on Twitter @RM_Courier
I AM DELIGHTED that we have reached agreement in principle with the CWU on a proposed new deal.
It’s a good deal. Good for the company. Good for you.
It is about radically improving industrial relations. It is about creating a can-do cul-ture. It is about working together to deliv-er business success.
Our agreement, believed to be the first of its kind in the UK, includes legally bind-ing terms covering industrial stability and employee protections.
There is a new pay deal. Over three years, this adds up to 9.06%*. It is a really good deal, one of the best in the UK.
Our agreement provides ongoing legal protections that benefit you and Royal Mail. The industrial stability framework sets out a new approach to resolving
workplace issues. It is about Royal Mail and the CWU doing things differently.
We will work with the CWU to develop and implement business strategies. Work-ing together, we will be able to respond quickly to competitive challenges and de-velop new approaches to improve effi-ciency.
We will keep modernising the business and will build on our previous agree-ments, which all remain in place.
CHRISTMASYou will have seen from our results that, for the first time, parcels make up more than half of the money we make. This em-phasises how important parcels are to us.
Never more so than now as we ap-proach Christmas.
As always, the spotlight is on us in the
run-up to Christmas. We are well prepared.
We have opened 10 temporary parcel sort centres. We have recruited 21,000 extra temporary staff. They are working with our postmen and women as we deliver a great Christmas for our customers.
I know you will continue to pull out all the stops for our customers at this crucial time.
These are exciting and challenging times for all of us.
Together we will build on our compa-ny’s proud past and deliver a successful future.
I wish you and your family health and happiness at this special time of the year.
* The 9.06% increase represents the expected com-pounded increase in salary between now and 2015/16.
Editor at AB: Lisa MobleyEmail: [email protected]
GOT A STORY?
CONTACT US
NEW DEAL
IT’S A GOOD DEAL. GOOD FOR THE COMPANY. GOOD FOR YOU.
585.38pper share as at 13 December 2013The price and value of securities can go down as
well as up. Past performance is not a guide to future
performance. Information published in Courier cannot
be relied upon as a guide to future performance.
You can check the share price any time the stock market is open at myroyalmail.com
FOR OUR PEOPLE Two very different awards showcased
this month demonstrate our commitment to supporting our people. We’ve won an award from Working Mums magazine (page 13) for creating an environment that encourages career progression. The judges were full of praise for our Springboard programme for women in non-managerial grades, which we also feature on page 13. And our London Programme, to transform the way we handle mail in the capital, won recognition from the Association of Project Management (page 9). One of the most visible aspects of the programme is the transformation of our Mount Pleasant site.
FOR OUR CUSTOMERS I don’t need to tell you that we’re in the
throes of our busiest time of year. Thank you for all your hard work to deliver for our customers this Christmas. Our centre pages have a decidedly Christmassy feel, and highlight some of the ways we’re delivering for customers – including a very appropriate festive firm – through our parcel sort centres and at delivery offices across the country.
IN THE COMMUNITY Not only is our payroll giving scheme a
Guinness World Record breaker, but now it’s also been recognised as one of the best in the country at the National Payroll Giving Excellence Awards (page 12). Our scheme won Best Overall Campaign. It means that around £2.5 million a year goes to a huge range of causes close to employees’ hearts. Also on page 12, you’ll read about more of our heroes and heroines who came to the rescue not just of members of the public, but even their pets!
December 2013 3email: [email protected] daily news: myroyalmail.com latest news: watch RMTV twitter: @RM_COURIER
NEW DEAL
THREE-YEAR PAY DEAL*
* The base pay offer will apply to all Royal Mail Group Ltd employees in CWU-represented grades. ** The 9.06% increase represents the expected compounded increase in salary between now and 2015/16. *** Pro rata for part-time employees.
2013/143%
increase + £200 lump sum***
2014/15
3%increase
+2015/16
2.8%increase
9.06%**increase over
3 years + £200 lump sum***
in year one+ =
GROUND-BREAKING AGREEMENTWe have agreed in principle with the CWU a ground-breaking new agreement on an agenda for growth and stability, including a three-year pay offer. It is about radically improving industrial relations. It is about creating a can-do culture. It is about a joint commitment to delivering business success.
The CWU executive has said it will recommend the agreement in a ballot to its members.
The agreement, believed to be the first of its kind in the UK, includes legally binding terms covering industrial stability and employee protections. New employee incentive arrangements will be developed
and introduced to underpin this.
These legally binding undertakings on industrial stability and employee protections are ongoing. The employee protections are subject to review at periodic reviews starting from January 2019.
Royal Mail also has the right to earlier termination of the employee protections in exceptional circumstances, such as a threat to the financial sustainability of the business. Under certain circumstances, including the breakdown of industrial stability, both parties have the right to earlier termination of the legally binding undertakings.
The proposed agreements on pay, industrial stability and employee protections apply in respect of all CWU represented grades in Royal Mail Group Ltd, with some minor variations for other employees including those in Parcelforce Worldwide.
4 December 2013 December 2013 5email: [email protected] daily news: myroyalmail.com latest news: watch RMTV twitter: @RM_COURIER
WORKING TOGETHER
NEXT STEPS
• This is a summary of the deal. You will find more information on myroyalmail.com.
• The CWU executive has said it will recommend the agreement in a ballot to its members.
NEW DEAL
The agreement builds on previous agreements, including BT2010. All current agreements remain in place.
Joint commitment to deliver modernisation in all delivery offices, mail centres and Logistics sites.
Both parties will work together to develop and implement business strategies, respond to competitive challenges and develop new approaches to improve efficiency.
We have agreed a joint delivery review, starting in January, which will look at how we align resources to workload.
6 December 2013 December 2013 7email: [email protected] daily news: myroyalmail.com latest news: watch RMTV twitter: @RM_COURIER
Industrial stability*
✓ A new approach to resolving workplace issues at a much faster pace and without disruption.
✓ Defined processes and strict timescales to resolve disputes.
✓ New mediation procedures to introduce additional expertise and help reach agreement.
✓ Internal processes escalating automatically to independent external mediation where a dispute cannot be resolved internally.
• Joint commitment to radically improve industrial relations and create a can-do culture.
• Joint Royal Mail and CWU training programmes to deliver industrial stability.
Employee protections*
✓ No zero-hours contracts for employees.
✓ Current employment model of a predominantly full-time workforce in Royal Mail core operations continues.
✓ No material change to current structure of the company in relation to delivery of the Universal Service.
✓ Maintaining the objective of delivering change without recourse to compulsory redundancy.
✓ No additional franchising or outsourcing.
✓ Both parties will work together to respond to competitive challenges and develop new approaches to improve efficiency.
✓ Royal Mail and the CWU will work together to develop and implement business strategies.
✓ A newly created Growth Forum. Three senior executives from both parties, including the CEO and the CWU’s deputy general secretary, to drive change across the company.
A three-year pay deal:
2013-14
✓ 3.0% base pay increase, backdated to 1 April 2013.
✓ £200 lump sum payment for each full-time eligible employee (pro rata for part-timers) in post on 1 October 2013, in recognition of business progress. This will be paid before Christmas in addition to any Christmas bonus.
✓ Additional increase in the over 10 hours overtime rate.*
✓ Scheduled attendance payments during periods of annual leave will be extended.*
2014-15
✓ 3.0% base pay increase in April 2014.
✓ New incentive scheme to be developed and introduced by April 2014.
2015-16
✓ 2.8% base pay increase in April 2015. Subject to review, if inflation is below 2.3% or above 3.3%.
✓ The agreement reconfirms the amended proposal for the Royal Mail Pension Plan (RMPP), which followed a consultation earlier this year.
✓ Royal Mail has agreed to make higher employer contributions to the Royal Mail Defined Contribution Plan.
✓ No further changes to the RMPP until at least March 2018, subject to certain conditions. Any proposed changes would be discussed under a joint review process with the CWU.
✓ The agreement on pensions will be subject to ballot by the CWU at the same time as, though separately to, the main agreement.
The agreement – key elementsLEGALLY BINDING AGREEMENT
PARTICIPATION
PAY
PENSION
The increases over the three-year period also apply to the usual allowances and overtime payments.
Industrial stability
Growth Forum
base pay increase in 2013-14
3.0%
Pension
Your checklist on the main areas of the deal
* Applicable to employees in the Royal Mail core operations network.
* All subject to the detailed provisions of the legally binding agreement.
A legally binding agreement with the CWU to ensure industrial stability and provide employee protections. It includes:
8 December 2013
THE NEW Royal Mail Mailmark is set to go live in the new year for machine-readable business, advertising and publishing mail.
The Mailmark barcode system will pro-vide big mailers with the ability to track their mail from when it’s accepted at a mail centre to when it’s processed for de-livery.
So if big mailers are sending out a vouch-er or special offer, they can have people standing by to take calls at just the right time. Or they can email or text their customers on the day their mail is scheduled for delivery to provide them with extra information or support.
They will also be able to view online reports on the performance of their mail, giving them more visibility of their data quality and their supply chain perfor-mance.
Graham Davis, director sales and channels, says: ‘This £70 million invest-ment enables us to offer a better, more useful service to our customers, sup-
porting our goal of growing the letters market. It will also make it easi-er to ensure we are correctly paid for the mail we deliver, as the barcode will mean we can check accu-rately whether the amount of mail submit-ted to us matches the amount declared.’
Nearly 80 retail and access cus-tomers have already signed up to Mailmark, and the first mailings will take place from February 2014.
THE KEEP ME Posted campaign, which champions consumers’ choice to receive paper bills and statements through the post, is going from strength to strength.
It is a partnership of representatives from charities, interests groups and businesses, including Royal Mail, who are increasingly concerned by the lack of choice offered to consumers about how they receive important communi-cations, including bills and statements.
The partners believe it is every consumer’s right to choose, without disadvantage, how they are contact-ed by banks and financial service companies, utility companies, media companies and other service provid-ers. They are calling on organisations to adopt the campaign’s six-point ‘right to choose’ pledge.
More than 80% of people feel they have a better chance of reading state-
ments if they are available by post, rather than online. Four in 10 say the removal of paper statements entirely could seriously affect their finances, for example through missing a bill payment.
An early day motion, tabled by Lib-eral Democrat MPs Mike Crockart and Sir Bob Russell, could see the subject debated in the House of Commons. It’s already been signed by 66 MPs, and counting.
Since the launch of the campaign, 38 organisations – including AgeUK, Countryside Alliance and Money SavingExpert – have added their support.
Wessex Water, which supplies 2.7 million customers in south-west England, is the first utility company to sign up to the pledge. It has promised not to charge customers more if they prefer to receive their bills or statements through the post.
PARLIAMENTARY
POSTING
STAFF FEEDBACK has prompted us to trial a new P739 ‘Something for you’ card specifically for controlled entry premises.
The card highlights to the customer the issues postmen and women have in delivering mail to individual addresses – for instance, in buildings that have a controlled entry panel and no exter-nal letterbox, such as blocks of flats.
Colleagues at Glasgow G1-4 and Bethnal Green and Hackney delivery offices have tried out the new cards for eight weeks.
Postman Craig Brittain at Glasgow says: ‘The card is a great idea. It explains clearly to cus-tomers that we have tried to deliver, and why we couldn’t, which means they are less likely to complain to us the next day. We definitely spend less time explaining why we couldn’t deliver to them.
‘It would be really useful to have the cards permanently.’
Chris Shuffle, postman at Bethnal Green, adds: ‘Each time we bring an item back to the office, we add a P4306 sticker that shows at a
glance the day we tried to deliver it and when a card has been left.
‘It helps both our staff and the custom-er clearly identify the issue we had with the delivery.’
Leslie Charles in the enquiry office at Bethnal Green says: ‘Customers are certainly happier with the cards. Not only do they give them a really clear explanation of the reason their item wasn’t delivered, but the card also has photos of the correct ID they need to bring on the back, so we’re turning fewer customers away.’
Andy Chatburn, new products resolution manager, says: ‘If any postmen or women have difficulty gaining access to this type of premises, they should inform their manager. There are clear guidelines and support letters that encour-age contact with customers to help us to gain access and avoid the need to leave P739 cards.
‘We know this isn’t always possible, and we will decide whether the trial cards have been a success and should be rolled out to other sites.’
KEEP CONTROL
Stuck… Chris can’t access abuilding to deliver the mail
Great idea…Craig would like to see the cards
introduced
Card sharp… Leslie sayscustomers are happier
Joining the index of the 100 largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange
MAKING OUR MARK
www.royalmail.com/mailmark
What can you do?• Share your stories, preferences and
experiences, to make sure we can fully represent and fight for the point of view of consumers
• Talk to your family and friends about the campaign
• Encourage your MP to sign early day motion No 554
• Visit www.keepmeposteduk.com or follow on Twitter @KeepMePostedUK or on Facebook.
Royal Mail to enter FTSE 100ROYAL MAIL is set to enter the FTSE 100. This is the index of the 100 largest com-panies listed on the London Stock Exchange based on market capitalisation, or value, as determined by the share price and the number of shares in issue.
Membership of the FTSE 100 is reviewed every three months to take account of move-ments in share price im-pacting valuations. Fol-lowing the business’s flotation in October, Royal Mail was includ-ed in the December review of the FTSE 100. It has now been confirmed that Royal Mail will join the FTSE 100 index from the start of trading
on Monday 23 December 2013.On the basis of the share price
on 10 December 2013, Royal Mail has a market capitalisation of £5,965 million and would rank as the 64th largest listed company in the UK by market capitalisation.
You can see Royal Mail’s share price every day on www.
myroyalmail.com, on the business screens in your workplace and in certain
newspapers. On the Group’s websites, the share price updates every 15 minutes when the stock market is open and shows the closing price of the
previous trading day when the stock market is closed.
The share price ticker reflects the current market price and should not be used to
make any investment decisions.
December 2013 9email: [email protected] daily news: myroyalmail.com latest news: watch RMTV twitter: @RM_COURIER
AS THE transformation contin-ues elsewhere, staff leaving on voluntary redundancy at the closing Leicester mail centre were invited to an awareness event.
It was organised to offer them relevant support, whether their chosen path is retirement, new employment or further education/training. This is a key element of the support offered to all our staff before they leave the business.
HR Transition team advisor Paul Johnson says: ‘It was a worthwhile day and very well-attended by Leicester employ-ees. On site we had representatives from local colleges, Jobcentre Plus, employment agencies, National Career Service, the
local council and Royal Mail Pensions, giv-ing colleagues support in a number of areas as they prepare to leave the business after many years of dedicated service.’
One of them was part-time postwoman Nadia McClelland.
Nadia says: ‘I live in Lutterworth, near Leicester, so moving to South Midlands mail centre is just too far to travel.
‘I thought the support offered for those of us taking voluntary redundancy was superb – I’m sure you wouldn’t get every company offering that for people who are leaving.
‘We had lots of workshops including how to write or update your CV, how to find out about jobs that aren’t advertised, and interview techniques. I found it really useful.’
Similar events have been held at Hull, Cambridge and Shrewsbury.
THE NORTH EAST mail centre project is now complete, with the last people from Bradford mail centre now settling in to life at Leeds mail centre.
One of them is John Bickerdike, who’s worked for Royal Mail for 25 years. It’s not his first move either, having already transferred to Bradford from Huddersfield when it closed in the early 1990s.
‘I’ve always treated work as something of an adventure. I really love my job, but you never know what’s around the corner,’ he says.
‘I’m doing the same job and on the shift I wanted. Not everyone is happy about having to move though,
and that’s understandable.‘I thought the move was handled well and it went very smoothly. We were
fortunate to be last to move, as lessons have been learned along the way. The facil-ities are better here, it’s cleaner and bigger, and I’ve made some great new friends.’
Latest adventure…
John likes life at Leeds
WE’VE SCOOPED a coveted award for the transformation of mail collec-tion, processing and delivery in London.
The modernisation project, known as the London Programme, was singled out at the Association of Project Management awards for making an outstanding impact as a result of exceptional project manage-ment.
The multi-million-pound project was the most complex piece of change in the recent modernisation of Royal Mail. The whole London Programme has delivered efficiency savings across opera-tions and property of more than £37 million
a year. It included transforming Mount Pleasant mail centre, and introducing state-of-the-art sorting technology.
Ian Jones, operations transformation programme director, says: ‘This is fantastic recognition from the project management profession for everything we have done and are doing to transform the operation across Royal Mail.’
Mark Higson, managing director operations and modernisation, adds: ‘This is testament to the frontline people and managers in London who have, over the last few years, worked through large-scale building works and still delivered great service to our customers.’
POSTMEN AND WOMEN who previously worked at London’s Rathbone Place delivery office have settled into their new home at Mount Pleasant. All the work has now transferred there.
On the W1 deliveries night shift, Courier caught up with
the team we last spoke to be-fore the big move.
Postman Kevin Smith has worked with the team for 28 years.
He says: ‘Mount Pleasant is vast! It took a bit of getting used to as it’s so different from Rathbone Place.
‘Now a couple of teething problems with the plumbing have been sorted, everyone likes the new working environ-ment. It’s brand new and cleaner, with much better facilities.’
SHOWING RESPECT for col-leagues who lost their lives in past conflicts, two memorials have been an important part of the move out of Rathbone Place.
An internal memorial (above) has been moved from Rathbone Place canteen to the de-livery office floor at Mount Pleasant.
The external memorial was originally on the old Western District Office building in Wimpole Street, moved in the 1960s. Mov-ing it again was a substantial task as it had to be dismantled stone by stone before be-ing re-installed near the South East door at Mount Pleasant.
MOVE OVER
LEAVING LEICESTER
Moving on… Nadia was impressed withthe support
HAVING NO previous experience in the publishing industry, I jumped at the opportunity to be a guest editor with the Courier team.
I learnt so much spending the day with the team. It gave me a whole new meaning into what actually goes into producing this all-important newspaper.
The December edition is packed with lots of festive articles. You get to
see the Christmas stamps competition entries by children all over the country.
The festive fundraisers article on page 20 gives an insight into the charities we are supporting this Christmas, and how our money is helping people in need.
The Springboard article on page 13 also highlights how our frontline women are being encouraged through workshops and by building
their self-confidence and addressing their work/life balance, which I think all working mums like myself need to do.
I always enjoy reading about our heroes, and also the contrast of the ‘Court in the act’ section. It is always good to know what our workers are doing to help others, and also to actually see what happens to those who flout the rules.
Fancy filling the guest editor’s chair? You’ll enjoy an expenses-paid trip to the Courier office in London to see how it’s put together, and a sneak preview of the pages before they go to press. Email [email protected] or call 020 7922 5670
Roberta Agyei-Agyepong, staff resourcing, Leeds mail centre
GUEST EDITOR’S COLUMN
MOVING MEMORIALS
NEXT ISSUE LOOK OUT FOR
ANOTHER MOUNT PLEASANT
SUCCESS STORY NEXT ISSUE
1.3M CONSTRUCTION HOURS WORKED IN
AND AROUND OUR LIVE OPERATIONS AT MOUNT
PLEASANT
DID YOU KNOW?
New look... Mount Pleasant has
been transformed
FIRST-RATE FACILITY
A TRIUMPH OF TRANSFORMATION
Settling in... Kevin has
moved to the Mount
latest news: watch RMTV twitter: @RM_COURIERdaily news: myroyalmail.com
SOME OF OUR Christmas staff come to us through various community support schemes.
The difference a job makes can be huge, whether it’s an extra £1,000 for Christmas that they weren’t expecting, or the opportu-nity to add Royal Mail to their CV.
218 people referred by Remploy, an organisation that helps get disa-bled people into work, have been offered work with us this Christ-mas. Remploy candidates were given a dedicated hour during the registration sessions so they could be better supported by us and
their support workers.We have 10 successful candi-
dates from the Ready for Work programme, run by Business Action on Homelessness.
One of them is Mohamed Abdulle, who’s working at our Northampton parcel sort centre.
He says: ‘I was excited to start work. I’ve done sorting before for Royal Mail and it’s interesting to be in the centre for Christmas.
‘The Hope Centre in Northamp-ton helped me with cheap food and clothing and to find some-where to sleep. Now I’m really
pleased that Royal Mail has given me this work.’
Joe Matwiejczuk, late shift man-ager who trained Mohamed, says: ‘It’s refreshing to work in an or-ganisation that promotes diversity and has a really inclusive culture. We’re recognising that people across our community have the skill sets we need.’
Two people have been offered work at Mount Pleasant mail centre through homeless charity Crisis, along with five others offered work placements through Islington Borough Council.
Community spirit
PARCEL PERFECTION
10 December 2013
We’ve opened 10 temporary parcel sort centres as part of our Christmas operations. This year, the centres are in Livingston, Glasgow, Leeds, Swindon, Northampton, Peterborough, Manchester, Tamworth, Greenford and Llantrisant. They’re mainly staffed by around 4,000 of the 21,000 seasonal workers we’ve recruited for Christmas. We spoke to some of them.
IT’S IN THE busy Christmas peak that new delivery methods can come into their own, as staff at Abergavenny delivery office are finding out.
Abergavenny had its revision in October, so this is its first Christmas using the new methods.
Christmas past meant a lot of time spent sort-ing parcels into areas and delivering at different stages through the day. Now, duty holders in vans and with lightweight trolleys can take out most parcels, so all types of mail are delivered at once to properties.
Customers are getting a better service as most parcels are reaching them earlier in the day, al-
though the busiest days still need some additional deliveries. The PDA system is also being well re-ceived by customers, with better tracking of items.
Postman Craig Gillies doesn’t have one perma-nent walk, but has seen benefits since last Christ-mas. ‘We’re not carrying around the weight now,’ he says. ‘Using the lightweight trolley means we can carry all the parcels out to customers with the rest of the mail.
‘I can also see the sense of shared vans, and that seems to be working. It’s good for morale to be with someone else as the quantity of parcels at Christmas can seem daunting if you’re out on your own.’
FOR ONE OF our custom-ers in rural Lincolnshire, it’s Christmas 365 days a year.
ChristmasTimeUK is one of several brands owned by Fizzco Ltd, based at Castle Farm, Fillingham.
Director Wendy Clark-son says: ‘We are the UK’s Christmas specialist, with one of the country’s largest collections of Christmas lighting and deco-rations under one roof. We’re also involved in providing corporate Christmas decora-tion for theme parks, restaurant chains, TV companies and public organisations.
‘We rely on Royal Mail to deliver our parcels carefully and on time.’
The parcels sent out throughout the year across the UK and around the world start their journey at Lincoln collection hub. Driver Steve White is one
of the team that makes sure the thousands of orders each month are collected safely from the customer.
‘From mid-November, we operate four collec-tions a day and hope the snow holds off until after the Christmas rush!’ says Steve.
‘Last year, they sent out 12,000 orders in the three months before Christmas – that’s a lot of revenue for our business.’
Steve and his colleagues at Lincoln take care with every parcel and know they are going to make people’s Christmas extra-special.
‘We work closely with warehouse manager Julie Gostling, and we stay in touch regularly to make sure everything gets collected in time.’
Christmas TimeCUSTOMER CORNER
(And they don’t just sell mistletoe and wine)
Delivering Christmas...Steve and ChristmasTimeUKwarehouse manager Julie Gostling
Excited... Mohamed is now working with us
Jess Edwards, PA to plant manager: ‘It’s a really nice atmosphere and everyone’s welcoming, even though we’re working hard. I didn’t realise how much work and how many reports go into the parcels operation.’
Tara Shortt, operator: ‘Everyone is so friendly and helps you to understand things quickly.It’s a good environment to work in. I’ve found it interesting work.’
Tamworth
Faye Yull, operator: ‘Morale is really high and upbeat here. Managers are very helpful and encourage you in the job.’
SwindonNorthampton
Wayne Cronin, porter: ‘The work is physically demanding, which is good for me. I’ve had training on the electric trolley, which is all good to add to my CV. Since working here, I’ve realised the scale of operations. I had no idea before just how much work it took each Christmas.’
Llantrisant
email: [email protected]
IT’S CHRISTMAS!CHRISTMAS PRESENT
Working well... Craigfinds the trolley useful
December 2013 11
12 December 2013
A SLEUTHING challenge presented itself to staff at our South West distribu-tion centre to reunite a wedding ring with its owner.
Barry Khan, processing op-erator on the late shift, came across the precious item.
‘I was amazed,’ says Barry. ‘We kept it safe with details of the mailing in which the ring was found. We also found the name “Jason” on the cage card that accompanied the mail.’
The following day, the find was reported to the customer and, sure enough, the person who deals with the mailing – Jason – was able to describe the unusual ring perfectly.
‘Within a couple of days, the ring was returned to its own-er. We were all very pleased to hear the news,’ says Barry.
Ringing success
SUDBURY POSTMAN Julian Prime was praised for saving a customer’s life after she suffered a serious fall at her home.
Mrs Smith’s relatives were so grateful, they even wrote to Moya Greene and the local papers to highlight the quick-thinking postman’s actions.
When Julian looked through the open door of her bungalow, he was shocked.
‘I thought someone had spilled a tin of paint. It was only when I heard a voice calling for help that I looked properly and realised it was blood,’ he says.
It was clear Mrs Smith had had a nasty fall. Julian says: ‘I could see she was in pain, so I asked for her permission to call an ambulance and helped her contact her family.’
Mrs Smith’s family was so impressed with the care he gave that they wrote a long letter to Moya commending him. They said: ‘Julian went above and beyond his duties as a postman. In this day and age, it is comforting to know there are people like him around.’
PUBLIC THANKS
THOUGHTFUL POSTMAN Keith Hardy earned a customer’s praise for rescuing a tortoise from the middle of the road.
‘We were distraught look-ing for Mo, our tortoise,’ Vickie Orford wrote to Wakefield delivery office. ‘The postman arrived with his trolley and handed my daughter a very special delivery.’
Keith had seen the tortoise in the
road, picked it up and put it carefully in his trolley. ‘I delivered to the next few houses, but realised as soon as I saw the family hunting through the shrubbery that I had found its home,’ he says.
‘The little girl’s face lit up when she saw Mo in my trolley. They’d named him after Mo Farah because he’s so fast, and he’d certainly covered a long distance in just a few minutes!’
Prime time... Julian visits Mrs SmithPrecious... Barry with the
ring before it was returned
Reunited... Abbie andAlfie with Mo and mumVickie thank Keith forthe pet rescue
PET RESCUE
12 December 2013
OUR PAYROLL giving scheme has been rec-ognised as one of the best in the country.
At the National Payroll Giving Excellence Awards 2013, we were awarded Best Overall Campaign and Most Successful Sustained Scheme by a Large Employer.
The judges said: ‘Dedication,
co-ordination and integration over 25 years has produced an exempla-ry payroll giving programme Royal Mail Group can be immensely proud of.’
Community investment manager Gary Grange says: ‘These awards are highly prestigious and winning is a great stamp of approval for Royal Mail and testament to the generosity of our people, both past
and present. ‘Around a quarter of our em-
ployees take advantage of the tax benefits of payroll giving to sup-port hundreds of different charities. That’s around £2.5 million going to help local communities and vulnera-ble people across the UK every year. We should celebrate the generosity of our people in such a successful scheme.’
To mark the 25th anniversary of the scheme in 2014, a special promotion will see extra funds going to good causes. For every employee who signs up for the first time in January or February, a one-off payment of £10 (if they sign up to benefit our charity of the year – Prostate Cancer UK) or £5 (for all other charities) will go to their chosen charity.
‘EXEMPLARY PAYROLL GIVING’ Teamwork... postman Alan
Chambers from Blaydon deliveryoffice and Tracy Southern from
Payroll Giving in Action
December 2013 13email: [email protected] daily news: myroyalmail.com latest news: watch RMTV twitter: @RM_COURIER
SPRINGBOARD SENSATION
Staff celebrating 40 and 50 years’ service in December:
CONGRATULATIONS
• Dave Auger, Warrington mail centre
• Christopher Bailey, York mail centre
• Derek Bradley, Eastbourne delivery office
• David Burroughs, Llandudno delivery office
• Tim Caie, Cambridge mail centre• William Gall, Cumnock
delivery office• Paul Goodman, Parcelforce
Worldwide HQ• Bobby Guy, Swansea mail centre• George Hay, Aberdeen mail centre• Shaun Hunt, Gatwick mail centre• Stephen Jewell, Holyhead
delivery office• David Martin, Horley
delivery office• Francis McKenzie (50 years),
Inverness delivery office• Bernard Metcalfe, Teesside
mail centre• Kantilal Patel, Midlands vehicle
service centre• Brian Roberts, Bangor
delivery office• Zbigniew Strukowski, Leeds
mail centre• Paul Tacey, Louth delivery office• Roderick Wass, Hemel Hempstead
vehicle service centre• John Whittle, Scottish
distribution centre
WE’VE TEAMED up with Veolia Environmental Services to increase the amount of waste we recycle instead of sending it to landfill.
We currently divert 66% of our total waste away from landfill, but Veolia aims to increase this to more than 80% by December 2015.
The new contract, replacing Biffa, starts from 13 January, and services will roll out in a phased basis over seven weeks, so look out for local details of timings. Veolia will replace the previous Biffa containers within 48 hours.
Ryan Cook, World Class Mail (WCM) Environment pillar lead at Plymouth manual data entry centre, says: ‘I’m hoping the new recycling service from Veolia will really support our journey through WCM.’
Environment manager James Kokiet says: ‘Under the new contract with Veolia, we expect to see a big increase in our recycling over the next couple of years.’
Graham Shaw, Veolia’s general manager, support services, adds: ‘Working together, I am confident that, with our technical know-how and national infrastructure, we will not only deliver increased landfill diversion, but we will achieve real improvements in carbon performance.’
No time to waste
RECYCLING JUST ONE
PLASTIC BOTTLE SAVES ENOUGH
ENERGY TO LIGHT A 100W BULB FOR
SIX HOURS
SINGING FOR THEIR SUPPERTHE ROYAL MAIL Choir represent-ed us in Brussels at the 20th anni-versary PostEurop gala dinner.
PostEurop is an organisation con-sisting of the postal services from 49 countries across Europe. We were one of the founding members in 1993.
David Pilkington, head of internation-al and customs policy, says: ‘Alongside the business of discussing the state of postal services across Europe and the
possible impact of legislation, we were delighted that the choir performed in the theatre of Brussels’ prestigious Palace Hotel.’
The choir entertained the PostEurop delegates three times throughout the evening, including once with professional opera singers Bel Canto.
‘Our choir proved that our professionalism extends beyond delivering the post,’ says David.
WE’VE WON an award from Working Mums magazine for creating an environment that encourages career pro-gression.
Judges in the Work-ing Mums magazine Top Employers Awards said Royal Mail has a ‘good representation of women in senior roles, there was work on career progres-sion at all levels and a new leadership programme and workshops that gave women the tools they needed to succeed’. They also praised our outreach work in schools and uni-
versities.Sue Whalley, director
of regulation and govern-ment affairs, chairs our gender diversity steering group and sponsors our gender diversity network. Sue says: ‘Together with our Women in Logistics award (covered last issue), this really demonstrated our commitment and pro-gress towards addressing gender diversity across the company.
‘I’m particularly pleased about the recognition we received for the Spring-board programme for frontline women.’
MUM’S THE WORD
NEARLY 500 WOMEN applied for the latest Springboard workshops in the South East alone.
Fifteen cohorts in the next six months will each consist of four sep-arate workshop days spread over four months.
Yvonne Dean, support to the Logistics director, is one of the passionate team behind the programme. ‘We’re all women who came into the business as non- managers and run these workshops in addition to our day jobs. Helping women through the courses and giv-ing them activities to complete in their own time is very rewarding,’ she says.
‘Inspirational guest speakers con-tribute to each programme, and these have included talks to the groups about their own real-life experiences.’
The main aims of the programme are building confidence, self-aware-ness, assertiveness, identifying weak-nesses and strengths and addressing work/life balance. Other areas in-clude CV writing, networking and setting goals.
Among the first cohort to com-plete Springboard in the South East were Pardeep Ahluwalia, PA to the mail centre manager at Greenford, and Chantel Thomas, DSA central control for the Wholesale team.
Pardeep says: ‘I took a fresh look at myself. The workshops were packed with ideas, exercises and examples
that helped me become more open to change. I now have a “can-do” attitude, and this has led me to apply for promotion and helped me sort out difficult working relationships simply by changing my way of thinking.
‘For the first time in years, I’ve started treating myself to “me time” – a very important topic in the work-
shops – and I’m always turning a negative into a positive.’
Chantel says: ‘Springboard was a very enjoyable experience as it allowed me a good opportunity for networking, and has given me an in-sight into what is on offer in Royal Mail for women. It has also given me a clearer career focus.’
THE SPRINGBOARD PROGRAMME CONTINUES, AS 1,000 NON-MANAGERIAL WOMEN IN FRONTLINE AND ADMINISTRATIVE ROLES ACROSS THE BUSINESS APPLY TO TAKE PART IN A SERIES OF WORKSHOPSby HILARY ROBERTSON
Springboarders... attendees at one of the latest workshops with Chantel (front,
centre) and Pardeep (back, third from left)
Support... Ryanhopes to recycle more
Representation praised...Technology’s Anna Grayand deputy group HRdirector Dale Haddoncollect the award
14 December 2013
Neil Paul ALLEN, a postman at Waterlooville delivery office, stole cash from postal packets. Allen pleaded guilty to one charge of theft and three of opening postal packets (interfering with mail) at Portsmouth Crown Court on 7 October. He was sentenced to 16 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, plus 100 hours’ unpaid work, and was ordered to pay Royal Mail £1,000.
Gareth Vincent FITZSIMMON, a postman at Derby delivery office who stole postal packets containing cash, DVDs and home shopping, appeared at Derby Magistrates’ Court on 3 October. He pleaded guilty to two charges of theft and two of intentional delay (interfering with mail) contrary to the Postal Services Act, and received six months’ imprisonment.
Rajvir Singh SAHOTA, an agency casual at Chatham, Rainham and Belvedere delivery offices, stole postal packets containing bank cards, PIN numbers and other financial material. Sahota pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy to steal under the Criminal Law Act (1977) at Maidstone Crown Court on 13 November, and was sentenced to 21 months’ imprisonment.
Daniel TOOFAN, a postman at Cambridge delivery office who stole cash from postal packets, appeared at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court on 24 October. He pleaded guilty to three charges of theft, one of opening postal packets and one of failing to surrender to bail, and received a total of 52 weeks’ imprisonment.
COURT IN THE ACTOur regular round-up of convictions across the country. Phil Gerrish, director of investigations, says: ‘If you act dishonestly and steal or interfere with the mail, you will be identified, apprehended and prosecuted. All crime affects our clients and customers, harms our reputation and puts our business at risk. The courts see it as a major breach of trust and there is a high chance you will go to prison.’
BULLYING & HARASSMENT HELPLINE 0800 587 4777
SPEAK UP (WHISTLEBLOWING) Report a breach of our licence or legal obligations to a confidential external hotline. Call 0800 097 1131 or visit www.intouchfeedback.com/royalmail
DISABILITY HELPLINE 0800 028 6142 or email [email protected]
PENSIONS HELPLINE Postline 5456 4545 or 0114 241 4545 (employees) 0845 603 0043 (pensioners)
HUMAN RESOURCES Royal Mail business units: Postline 5456 7100 or 0845 606 0603/0114 241 8890
HELP Employee assistance service for free advice. Call 0800 688 8777 Visit www.rmghelp.co.uk
SECURITY HELPDESK Tel 020 7239 6655 or email [email protected]
ROYAL MAIL UNIFORMS HELPLINE 0800 731 5137 Email royalmail@dimensions- corporatewear.co.uk
QUESTIONS/IDEAS TO MOYA GREENE Email [email protected] Or write to Freepost Just Say It
WATCH&WIN PO Box 1356, Sunderland SR5 9NJ Freephone 08000 32 1144 Email watch&[email protected]
CHARITY FUNDING SUPPORT Email [email protected] Tel 0151 284 1221
PROPERTY & FACILITIES HELPDESK (reporting building faults) 0844 800 9191
SPRINGBOARD Development programme for women in non-management grades. For more information, call Rose Jolliffe on 01788 208208 (Postline 5926 8208) or email [email protected]
SHIFT INTO SPORTS www.shiftintosports.com passcode: post2012
FEELING FIRST CLASS www.feelingfirstclass.co.uk passcode: FFC1
ROYAL MAIL ON-SITE GYMS www.royalmailfitness.co.uk
How to get in touch
CONTACTS
WE ALL USE the inter-net and have access to emails at work or at home. But the internet is a hunting ground for attackers who steal information, and YOU could be targeted.
We know our people have been targeted via ‘phishing’ emails, and in the past six months 12% of employees have clicked on them.
It’s vital everyone takes a
second to think before they click on any links and attach-ments.
Phishing is a way of steal-ing valuable company or personal information by tricking people into inadvert-ently revealing usernames, passwords, bank or credit card details. Emails, we sites, online advertisements and text messages are the most common ways fraudsters do this.
What to do:• Avoid clicking on online advertisements or pop-ups unless
you know they are from a genuine source• Hover over the links to see where they will take you• Only use Royal Mail Group systems for work communications• Restrict your internet use to well-known, reputable websites• Always connect to the internet securely• Report any threats or incidents to the IT Helpdesk right away
on 5415 2555.
To learn how to protect your information and how to spot phishing emails, check out our Think before you click pages on myroyalmail.com, part of our Think Secure programme, and read the campaign material at myroyalmail.com/thinksecure/think-before-you-click
IN A DIFFERENT twist on the dog safety message, delivery offices in North and West Yorkshire raised charity cash by focusing on elimi-nating dog attacks.
All units that were incident-free for the dura-tion of the campaign went into a draw to present £1,000 to Guide Dogs.
David Lavender, senior safety adviser, says: ‘We thought it would be an unusual idea if an animal charity benefited from one of our regular safety awareness campaigns. Staff chose Guide Dogs because, although some dogs in our com-munity may represent a safety hazard, many staff
are dog lovers and owners who recognise that lots of dogs do a tremendous amount of good in the community.’
Pontefract, Aireborough and Bridlington were among the 26 incident-free offices and were picked to present the cheques.
Sean Adams, delivery office manager from Pontefract, says: ‘This was a great idea, and it did increase the focus on eliminating dog attacks as we knew the charity would benefit at the end.
‘I didn’t know that much about Guide Dogs before I met them; it really opened my eyes. They rely on donations, and what they do with that money is amazing. The dogs transform people’s lives.’
Safety cheques
ROAD SAFETY WEEK in November saw staff across the UK taking part in a host of activities.
Staff at every site in the West signed a safe driv-ing pledge, which includes promises such as sticking to the Highway Code, committing to car-rying out regular vehicle checks and paying more attention to other road users.
Pam Metcalfe at Oswestry says: ‘We watched the new road safety video, and that had a huge impact on everyone. This is our everyday job and people do the same route for years, so it’s easy to get complacent.
‘The whole team signed the pledge. It’s a good idea because it’s about everyone taking responsi-bility for safety.’
Elsewhere, other activities included school visits with Postman Pat, using an HGV unit, hats and hi-vis jackets embossed with Road Safety Week. The visits were arranged to educate children about road safety and dangers such as blind spots.
In Logistics, a HGV simulator was used, quizzes were held and extra vehicle checks took place.
The East geography team researched the effectiveness of the week’s activities. 70% of driv-ers surveyed thought Road Safety Week had been effective.
ROAD TO IMPROVEMENT
Bark life…
Sean with Guide Dogs
fundraiser Thelma Wilson
and dogs Rhoda and Alma
NEW DANGEROUS dog awareness postcards are being tried out to see whether they reduce attacks on our
people.Delivery offices identified as high
risk across all five geographies are delivering 600,000 of the cards, de-veloped with the CWU.
They tell dog owners about solu-tions such as letterbox cages, and how they can help by keeping their dog away when they open the door.
Thatcham is one of the sites pi-
loting the postcards.Thatcham postman Shaun Piper was bitten
by a Tibetan Mastiff several months ago. He has already seen that the postcards make a difference.
‘One customer called out to me that she was locking her dog away before opening the door,’ he says.
‘It seems to be making a few customers more careful, now they’ve had the risks pointed out to them. You’ll never reach everyone, but this postcard is working with some people.’
Initial results will be assessed in January.
Collaring the culprits
Working… Shaun with the postcard
Sign here... Pam pledgesto drive more safely
December 2013 15email: [email protected] daily news: myroyalmail.com latest news: watch RMTV twitter: @RM_COURIER
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IN THE PINK
HOME COUNTIES North mail centre went pink,
including the men! Postwoman Tracey Friend
says: ‘Everyone either wore pink or wore a badge for Wear It Pink Day and we managed to
raise £1,300, including matched funding.
‘Everyone really entered into the spirit of what was a great day, and it’s fantastic to have raised so much money for such a good cause.’
MEANWHILE, at Croydon mail centre, WCM champion Sheetal Kashyap chaired the ‘Wear it Pink’ team for the second year running.
She says: ‘It has been an amazing experience for me and the entire site. The motivation from our staff has been great – we had a sea of people wearing pink and donating towards Breast Cancer Campaign.
‘In total, we raised more than £1,200 with matched funding, and it was all done in one day! I am very proud of the team here and everyone got involved to help make a difference.’
TWO OF OUR MAIL CENTRES WENT PINK IN AID OF BREAST CANCER CAMPAIGN
Perky in pink… Ashleigh Steadman, Adam Harnset and Tracey
SEVEN STAFF from the en-quiry office at Romford took part in a sponsored walk for Cancer Research UK and raised more than £2,000 along the way.
Postman Chhinder Gill says: ‘My mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent surgery. It’s nearly five years since then, and her determina-
tion and courage inspired me to do something.’
The team came up with the idea of a sponsored walk.
‘We couldn’t have done it without the help of our col-leagues and managers,’ adds Chhinder.
‘We’re so pleased to have raised more than £2,000, in-cluding matched funding.’
Romford ramblers
Rambling on… standing: Balvinder Kainth, ChhinderGill, Harbinder Flora, Narinder Singh. Seated: Kuldip Uppal, Craig Dawson and his son Harry Dawson
THE SOUTH COAST will soon be safer partly thanks to Ian Ford, delivery office manager at Littlehampton, after he raised more than £2,000 towards a new lifeboat.
‘I completed the Brighton Marathon to raise money for a new Shannon class lifeboat for the RNLI in Selsey,’ says Ian.
‘Completing a marathon at all is good going, and I was pleased to get a respectable time of 4hrs 42mins. Better still, I raised £2,255, including matched funding.
‘I’m just grateful to all my colleagues who helped me by sponsoring me. It makes it all worth-while.’
LIFEBOAT LIFESAVER
A TEAM AT Northern Ireland mail centre took part in the Charity Shop Challenge for Action Cancer and raised nearly £6,500.
The Charity Shop Challenge was based on The Apprentice. Teams took over an Action Cancer charity shop for the day and competed to see who could raise the most money, bags of stock and volunteers.
The team was awarded the High Five Award by Business in the Community NI director Jill Crawford for choosing the most innovative representation of their company through an object chosen from their allocated charity shop in Ballyclare. Our team chose a pair of rollerblades – as a company on the move.
Awards were judged in an Apprentice-style boardroom showdown, with Jim Eastwood (a recent candidate for the show) leading the judging panel as a Lord Sugar stand-in.
In total, the event raised more than £65,000 for Action Cancer.Kelly Tagg, team leader, says: ‘The other companies had been involved for
more than six months. We were only invited to participate nine weeks before! We feel that the amount we raised in such a short space of time, and that we walked away with an award, was a major achievement.
‘Next year, we hope to be named 2014’s shop winner. With more time, who knows what we could have achieved!’
TAKING ACTION
Rising to the challenge... Kelly Tagg, regionaldirector Gary Crawford, BITC NI director Jill Crawford, Jim
Eastwood, Claire Connolly, Action Cancer director Gareth Kirk,Frank Casey, Amy Gilbride, Kathleen Gilmore and Ann Thompson
Proudly pink... Ingrid McPhee and Christopher Parslow
THE NEXT Give A Quid day will take
place on Tuesday 28 January.
We’re asking colleagues across the
business to donate £1. If everyone
at Royal Mail contributes, we could
raise a significant amount for Prostate
Cancer UK.
The business will match
all donations, penny
for penny.
Give A Quid
16 December 2013
GENERAL COURIER TERMS & CONDITIONS: Unless otherwise stated, the following terms and conditions apply: 1. Prize draws and competitions are open only to Courier readers who are UK-based Royal Mail employees over the age of 18 or UK-based Royal Mail pensioners. 2. Closing date for receipt of entries is Friday 17 January 2014 (unless otherwise stated). Only one entry per person. No third party or bulk entries. Entries must include entrant’s name, home address and contact details such as telephone number or email address. 3. No responsibility can be accepted for entries incomplete, delayed, wrongly delivered, damaged or not received for any reason. Proof of posting is not proof of receipt. 4. Prizes must be accepted as offered and are subject to availability. No cash alternative or cash difference will be offered and prizes are not transferable. Values of prizes correct at time of going to press. 5. Winners will be notified by post 28 days after closing date. 6. Winners of prize draws are the first names drawn at random or the first correct entry drawn at random by an independent person after the closing date. 7. If a prize is not claimed within three months of the closing date, a redraw will take place. 8. Promoter’s decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into. 9. Entry implies acceptance of these rules. 10. The promoter reserves the right to substitute a prize of equal or greater value, if necessary. 11. Winners’ details are available 28 days after closing date. Send an SAE marked Prize Draw/Competition Results to Courier, AB Publishing Ltd, 24-26 Great Suffolk Street, London SE1 0UE. 12. Winners may be required to take part in publicity for promotions. 13. Promoter is Royal Mail Group Ltd, 100 Victoria Embankment, London EC4Y 0HQ. 14. Neither AB Publishing Ltd or Royal Mail are responsible for any third party direct marketing or third party offers or services. 15. Prize supplier may want to contact you directly for marketing purposes. If you would like to unsubscribe from marketing mail, please contact prize supplier directly. If you do not want to receive further information from the prize supplier and you enter by post, please write ‘no’ on your postal entry. If you do want to receive information from the prize supplier and you enter by email, please write ‘yes’ in the subject line of your email entry.
Across6. One of our 10 temporary parcel sort centres for Christmas operations (11)7. Muslim religion (5)8. Protective garment used in the kitchen (5)10. Type of tangerine (7)12. Separate area in a hospital (4)14. And 9 Down. Campaign that champions consumers’ choice to receive paper bills and statements through the post (4,2,6)15. Small drop of water from a tap (4) 16. And 3 Down. Every 2013
issue has a chapter in this Royal Mail Yearbook (7,6)17. Unit of currency in South Africa (4) Down1. Gordon Brown replaced him as Prime Minister (5)2. Royal Mail _____ is set to go live in the new year (8)3. See 16 Across4. Italian city with the Leaning Tower (4)5. Facts about something (11)9. See 14 Across 11. Urgent charity request (6)12. Gareth Bale and Ryan Giggs’
nationality (5)13. Judi, whose films include ‘Shakespeare In Love’ and ‘Philomena’ (5)
We have 10 £10 gift cards up for grabs. Once again you’ll find some help with your answers to the crossword within this issue of Courier. Post your entry to December crossword, 24-26 Great Suffolk Street, London SE1 0UE to arrive by Friday 17 January 2014. See below for full terms and conditions.
Name
Home address
Postcode
WIN A £10 ONE4ALL GIFT CARD IN OUR CROSSWORD COMPETITIONTHE ONE4ALL CROSSWORD
September’s answers
CLU
ES
ACROSS6 Most Trusted. 7 Benefits. 8 Shy. 9 Obelisks. 11 Trojan. 13 Oath. 15 Viewer. 16 Monkey.DOWN1 Movember. 2 Steeplejack. 3 Trains. 4 Asps. 5 Merchant. 10 Shower. 11 Term. 12 Navy. 14 Hart.
7 9
32 4 51
8
6
10
12 13
11
14
16
17
15
KIRK TSE’S creative montage gets the stamp of approval as this issue’s winner!
Kirk, from Harlow, took his Courier with him every-where in Malaysia, includ-ing the King’s Palace, the Post Office in SungKai village, Army Museum, an ostrich farm and Cape Ra-chado Lighthouse.
Newport Pagnell post-woman Hilde Hanson took hers to the tomb of Emperor Khai Dinh in Hue, Vietnam.
Paul Barnett, postman from Cranbook, and wife Tracy, who’s a new busi-ness manager, climbed North Africa’s highest peak to raise £5,000 for charity.
Their climb of Mount Toubkal, in Morocco, was in aid of Building and As-sisting Communities with Education (BACE). Paul and Tracy are co-founders of the charity, whose latest project involves building a new primary health care clinic in Bonsa, The Gambia.
See https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/mt-toubkal2013 or www.bace-home.org for more details.
Snapped striking a pose outside the Louvre in Paris is Sayyed Zaidi, postman and deputy CWU rep on the night shift at South West regional distribution centre.
And Dave Murphy, Team North’s operations perfor-mance manager, is feeling the heat in Death Valley, USA.
Our prize is an Olympus VG-170 featuring 14 megapixels, 5x wide optical zoom, 720p HD movie and 7.6cm/3.0” colour LCD.● Send your snaps to [email protected] or post to Courier photo competition, 24-26 Great Suffolk Street, London SE1 0UE. Please include your home address.
Sayyed Zaidi
Dave Murphy
FANCY SPLASHING out on a new winter wardrobe courtesy of Courier?
Look no further!We have five £200 Debenhams gift
cards up for grabs so you can treat yourself to that new coat, or whatever you’ve had your eye on.
All you need to do to be in with a chance of winning is answer the fol-lowing question and send your entry, with your name, home address and contact number, to couriercompetitions @abcomm.co.uk by 17 January 2014. Alternatively, send your answer and name and address on a postcard to Winter wardrobe competition, 24-26 Great Suffolk Street, London SE1 0UE.
WIN YOUR WINTER WARDROBE
Q: WHERE IN THE WORLD DID SCIENTISTS
RECORD THE COLDEST EVER TEMPERATURE
OF -94.7C (-135.8F) THAT HIT THE HEADLINES
EARLIER THIS MONTH?
Paul and Tracy Barnett
WIN!
WINNER!
Kirk Tse
Hilde Hanson
December 2013 17email: [email protected] latest news: watch RMTV twitter: @RM_COURIERdaily news: myroyalmail.com
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WE HAVE a copy of the 2013 Special Stamps Yearbook to give away.
All you need to do to be in with a chance of winning is send your name, home address and contact number to [email protected], putting Yearbook Competition in the subject box, or send your details on a postcard to Yearbook Competition, 24-26 Great Suffolk Street, London SE1 0UE. Entries must arrive by 17 January 2014.
WIN THE YEARBOOK!
WIN
LOOK OUT for our 2013 Special Stamps Yearbook.
Every year we create an impres-sive hardback book that celebrates all the stories behind the stamp issues of that year.
Each of the 13 Special Stamp issues of 2013 is included. Every issue, from Doctor Who to Dinosaurs, Football Heroes to Butterflies, has its own chapter, with special pockets to house the stamps in the book.
It’s packed with inside information and a wealth of photographs and illustrations.
The book comes in a beautiful
hand-finished presentation box and would make a perfect last-minute Christmas gift!
PRICED
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YEARBOOK IS AVAILABLE
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ANNUALPRODUCTS OR
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HOUSE ON
08457 641 641
POSTERS HAVE carried the General Post Office’s services to the public since 1933, when Stephen Tallents was appointed as the GPO’s Public Relations Officer.
Tallents joined the GPO from the prestigious Empire Marketing Board.
He soon established the GPO as a leader and trendsetter in poster design, helping to promote the most effective use of its services.
You can learn more about the fascinating development of these posters through ‘Designs on Delivery: GPO Posters 1930-1960’, a temporary exhibition by the British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA). It contains works such as ‘Write Instead’, by artist Hans Schleger, better known as Zero.
The free exhibition will run at Aberystwyth Arts Centre from 18 January until 8 March.
Call 01970 623232 for more details.
TO COINCIDE with the Designs on Delivery exhibition, the BPMA is offering a special offer on poster stationery.
Courier readers can get the ‘Write Instead’ A5 unruled notepad for £4.95, along with free plain correspondence cards and postage and packaging.
To order, visit postalheritage.org.uk/zero, quoting ZEROGIFT at the checkout, or call 020 7239 5125.
SPECIAL READER OFFER
PICK UP A POSTERFROM THE ARCHIVE
STORIES BEHIND OUR STAMPS
LETTERBOX All letters printed win a £25 One4All gift card, with a £50 gift card for each month’s star letter. We try to include as many publishable letters as possible, but due to space we are unable to publish all of them.
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LETTERBOXEMAIL [email protected]
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Having read November’s Courier, I am pleased to see that we have gone back to orange labels for Royal Mail Signed For items. But please can we look into changing the Royal Mail Tracked item labels too?
The white labels are very similar to labels used by Amazon, and can be hard to distinguish between a Tracked and non-Tracked item.
If they were blue, yellow, or any other colour for that matter, it would eliminate most, if not all, failed Royal Mail Tracked deliveries where the item has been put through a letterbox without scanning.Steve Musgrove, postman, Yeovil
Helen Williams, service improvement manager for Special Delivery, Royal Mail Tracked and Royal Mail Signed For, replies:The orange Royal Mail Signed For labels shown in November’s Courier are the ones used at Post Office branches for our consumers/social customers.
The Royal Mail Tracked 24/48 product is for business customers only, and their parcels are posted along with other services at the time of their Royal Mail collection.
Our business customers use their own despatch labelling systems stocked with rolls of plain white labels. This enables any product item label to be printed as an order is received, without the need
to change rolls to meet a colour requirement for each of our services. This makes it easy for our customers to do business with us.
An item label details the product, payment indicia, any special instructions (eg signature required, Safeplace instruction) as well as the delivery address and the item barcode that must be scanned through our pipeline and on the doorstep at the time of delivery/attempted delivery.
The uniform we used to wear had dark blue fleece and Harrington jackets, and light blue shirts. Against these items, the orange hi-vis bibs worked very well; a good contrast between the colours.
The current uniform has red fleece and cagoule jackets, and red or blue shirts. The contrast between the red and orange is nowhere near as good. This means the bibs are no longer doing the job intended; they are simply not as highly visible.
I managed to get hold of a yellow bib the other year, and it stands out quite sharply against the red tops/jackets. Could these yellow bibs be rolled out as standard issue and show that some thought has gone into the heath and safety aspect? This is, after all, why we’re wearing them in the first place.Richard Simcox, Peterborough
Julie Brown, uniform and print supply adviser, replies:The hi-vis is not actually part of our uniform, but is Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and should only be issued where a risk assessment has identified a potential risk or hazard that cannot be removed or reduced without the need for PPE.
We have two predominant colours of hi-vis in our operation, with the exception of visitors/casuals, for easy identification:
• Orange hi-vis Class 2 vest for delivery and collections staff and indoor workers
• Yellow hi-vis Class 3 jacket used by our professional drivers.
The orange hi-vis vest conforms to EN471 Class 2 Standards for high-visibility clothing. It still allows the wearer to stand out against the ambient background found in the working environment, regardless of the clothing underneath.
After ordering my third set of Magnum shoes this year because the tread on the shoes has worn away, I can’t help but feel that we are wasting large sums of money on these shoes.
It takes a while to break them in, and in no time they are being thrown away. The uppers are perfect and it’s only the sole that has worn.
Why can’t we have a shoe where the sole can be replaced? Surely we can have a contract with a national shoe repairer to replace the soles?Rodney Roadknight, postman, Fleet
Julie Brown, uniform and print supply adviser, replies:Thank you for your suggestion; we are constantly looking for improvements to our uniform and footwear ranges. We will shortly be launching two new trainers that are waterproof and last longer.
There are a number of safety reasons why we do not allow our footwear to be repaired. All our footwear has to conform to the EN Standard for occupational footwear, as well as external testing for slip resistance before we allow them into our operation. By replacing the sole of the footwear, we are actually changing the construction and characteristic of the footwear, which could potentially cause injury.
LABEL CONSCIOUS
CONTRASTING VIEW
Sole survivors With regard to the dog awareness letter in October’s
Courier, I have an idea but am not sure where to go with it. It is to do with large posting companies such as
Amazon. When a customer orders an item
on this website, one of the questions that could be on the personal details form could be: Do you have a dog?
If yes, when the item is processed and ready to be sent, it could have the word ‘DOG’ printed on it, or a paw print printed on the label near the address.
This would highlight to the person delivering the item that there is
a dog at the property. This could then be cross-referenced with
our Walk Risk Assessment Platform (WRAP).Roger Andrews,
Nottingham County sector
Steve White, Group Safety, Health and Environment management systems manager, replies: Thank you for your suggestion; we are always happy to receive ideas for improving the safety of our people.
We have explored your suggestion with Commercial and, although it is an ingenious proposal, it would
present some practical difficulties at the moment. It is worth highlighting that our existing internal processes, in particular the Walk Risk Assessment Platform (WRAP), provide for identification and follow-up of dog-related hazards in
an integrated way. We have been
examining and piloting some new supporting initiatives to extend our potential opportunities for the identification of dog risks and our options for proactive controls.
PAWS FOR THOUGHTSTAR LETTER
Following your feedback, we update you on some of the issues you’ve raised in previous letters
I believe we should have a different P739 card for Delivery to Neighbour.
The card for when an item has been left with a neighbour only really has to show the date/time and a space for the house number the parcel has been left at.
Many people I know either simply just write: ‘Left at number X’ on a normal card and post that, or don’t leave parcels with neighbours at all.
This will save writing out a full card, and would also look more professional than a poorly written out standard card.Darren Wilson, Airdrie delivery office
Jayne Collins, Operations commercial interface manager, replies:Thank for you for your suggestion, Darren.
The existing P739 card is undergoing a major review. We’re aiming to trial the new card across the network early in 2014.
Feedback and suggestions were taken from across a large section of the business, including letters and suggestions in previous Courier Letterbox pages, to help improve the card for our customers, our postmen
and women and enquiry office staff. The benefits of the new card will be measured during the trial and details communicated in due course – watch this space.
The main reason for not having a separate card specifically for the Delivery to Neighbour option is to avoid the need for our postmen and women to carry additional stores items with them on their walks. By having one card to cover all options, it makes it simpler for our postmen and women.
YOU SAID,THEY ACTED
Changes on the cards
LETTERBOXAll letters printed win a £25 One4All gift card, with a £50 gift card for each month’s star letter. We do try to include as many publishable letters as possible, but due to space we are unable to publish all of them.
LETTERBOXEMAIL [email protected], WRITE TO COURIER LETTERS, 24-26 GREAT SUFFOLK STREET,
[email protected] January 2013
LETTERBOXEMAIL [email protected]
WRITE TO COURIER LETTERS,
24-26 GREAT SUFFOLK STREET,
LONDON SE1 0UE
PLEASE MAKE YOUR LETTER NO MORE
THAN 100 WORDS
TEXT COURIER TO 80800
(MAX 160 CHARACTERS)
PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR HOME ADDRESS
WITH YOUR LETTER
I would like to ask if the issue of very small letters could be considered. They are a nui-sance in a bundle as they can drop out eas-ily, and they are awkward when bundling up. They are often left in the frame because they are shorter than the dividers.
The same is true of some Door to Door items. Should very small letters be surcharged because of the handling problems?Mark Russell, postman, High Wycombe
Shaun Roberts, head of advertising and publishing products, replies:There are minimum and maximum sizes for our customers using account services, including our bulk mail sorted products and unsorted machine-readable products such as business mail, publishing mail and advertising mail. This is to meet automation requirements and allow for easier processing.
For non-account mail, which is covered under the Inland Letter Scheme, there are no minimum size restrictions. However, we can process and route an item of mail differently if its size, shape, character or condition is unfi t for the route it would ordinarily travel. We have published clear recommended minimum sizes and
dimensions on our website.While we can monitor account mail postings coming
through the system, it would be impossible to do this for normal consumer mail posted into a postbox. We want to encourage the use of mail and provide options that meet both our customers’ needs and those of our operation.
Christian Petersen, head of unaddressed Door to Door mail, adds:Door to Door doesn’t have a minimum size either, although we do actively discourage items smaller than A5 due to the likelihood of them being overlooked by potential customers.
This is a classic catch 22 situation. Do we dictate to customers what they can send, with the potential of
alienating them? That’s not something we want to do when seeking to retain and grow revenues. Or do we allow customers to post what they want, and accept that operational issues may result?
In today’s competitive environment, it is vital that we meet customers’ needs at a fair and cost-refl ective price that refl ects the ease or diffi culty of handling their items.
At Door to Door we have taken the latter view, and we are constantly reviewing our specifi cations to make sure our handling costs are refl ected in the price of the service.
In the case of the example shown, this is a well-tried creative that has served Direct Line well over the years, hence their continued use of it.
STAR LETTER
Re: Your article on National Safe Driving Awards in November’s Courier – fi nally, a recognition scheme for drivers.
When I became a driver about 20 years ago, I saw a number of colleagues wearing 10, 15, 20 and even 25 years’ safe driving badges, worn proudly on the lapels of their blazers. I myself managed a fi ve-year safe driving badge and cer-tifi cate. Unfortunately, that was until Royal Mail pulled the plug on its association with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) because of fi nancial constraints.
I felt strongly about this, and contacted RoSPA, who reliably informed me that the cost of the certifi cates and badges was minimal, confi rm-ing that the real costs were due to the monetary in-centive given alongside the badge and certifi cate.
The reward was never about money; it was about pride and competition among colleagues and even, at times, envy.
I welcome the return of Royal Mail’s associa-
tion with RoSPA and believe this in turn will help drive down vehicle collisions. Now truly recog-nise your drivers, Royal Mail – backdate their badges and certifi cates and bring back the pride of driving a red van.Ian Barnes, Sheffi eld mail centre
Lisa Durrant, head of fl eet safety and compliance for the West region, replies:I’m glad to hear you welcome the return of the awards scheme. We will be looking to evaluate the success of the pilot in the coming months, measuring the number of incident-free drivers compared to pre-launch, and the benefi ts will only become evident over a period of time.
There is no plan, I’m afraid, to backdate awards. The purpose is to draw a line in the sand, and start everyone from scratch. While I understand that this may be disappointing for drivers with a collision-free history, the intention it to give everyone in the pilot locations an equal opportunity to be involved in the scheme and accrue awards from this point forward.
Having read your articles about P739 ‘Something for you’ cards, a few things keep coming up while working in the enquiry offi ce.
I feel an important part of the infor-mation on the reverse of the card could be simplifi ed, making it easier for the customer to understand.
When we say we need the addressee’s ID, we always get the same responses – “I am the person’s husband/wife”, or “I live there, the address is the same”. This leads to us having to send away many unhappy customers.
Why can’t we simplify this by replac-ing the addressee’s ID with ‘You or a nominated person can collect the item, but please bring this card and ID for the person/persons named on this card’ in bold or in capitals? This would make it far easier for the customer to under-stand and hopefully lead to fewer peo-ple being sent away.
Also, on the Christmas P739 cards, we had three ‘available to collect from’ time option boxes. This should be standard all year round as it is much clearer than tell-ing the customer to leave it four hours and then collect their item. Chris Manna, Hawksworthdelivery offi ce, Swindon
Jayne Collins, operations commercial interface manager, replies:We are constantly looking at ways to improve our P739 ‘Something for you’ card and make it clearer to our customers. I will make sure your suggestion about putting some of the
information in bold is considered when we next review the card.
Regarding your second suggestion, Hawksworth delivery offi ce was involved in trialling P739 cards with a standardised collection time window for items. We ran this trial in 60 delivery offi ces using the Christmas P739 cards and then standard P739 cards in early January.
The new options used on the trial P739 card are shown below. I’m encouraged to hear that you think this option works better and is clearer for our customers.
The standardised collection time window trial fi nished on 12 January, and we are now reviewing the results and effectiveness. If it proves a success, I will indeed look to recommend national roll-out to all our offi ces for both standard and Christmas P739 cards.
TIME FOR A CHANGE?
SIZING UP
SAFE AND SOUNDLETTERBOX All letters printed win a £25 One4All gift card, with a £50 gift card for each month’s star letter. We try to include as many publishable letters aspossible, but due to space we are unable to publish all of them.
LETTERBOXEMAIL [email protected]
WRITE TO COURIER LETTERS, 24-26 GREAT SUFFOLK STREET, LONDON SE1 0UE
TEXT COURIER TO 80800 (MAX 160 CHARACTERS)
PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR HOME ADDRESS WITH YOUR LETTER
YOU SAID,
In November 2012, we ran a letter from Gerard O’Connell, assistant manager at Cardiff North, about possible Royal Mail branded strips for hire vans at Christmas, to make them look more professional.
Richard Wiggins, head of commercial, updates us on this issue:Good news! We have indeed created new signage with our vehicle graphics provider, and this is now available to order – both for day-to-day use and also to support our hire fleet each Christmas.
Also in November’s issue, Keith Patrak, postman from Wiltshire, wrote in about unreliable equipment introduced as part of the new delivery methods. In his reply, programme manager Richard Moor mentioned that the team would be testing some modifications to improve the quality of high capacity trolleys (HCTs) at three delivery offices.
Richard updates us on the project: We’ve now developed and tested fixes to all the problems people reported with the Mk2 HCT, and we’re preparing plans to apply these to all the trolleys out in the operation.
This is due to start in early April, with a view to completing all delivery offices by mid-August.• Once the improved trolleys are up and running
in some offices, Courier will drop in to find out what people think.
THEY ACTED
I don’t usually have any complaints about our uniform, but that changed recently.
I needed somenew trousers, and was impressed with the prompt delivery. But the left-hand side pocket is now on the right-hand side.
I am right-handed, which means I carry the mail and parcels in my right hand, using my left hand to knock on doors and to post mail.
Now I have to move the mailbag to one side and reach across my torso with my left hand to access my right-hand pocket. This is incredibly awkward out on delivery, and at 49 it’s a little late to try to become left-handed!
Second, why do we have to wait four weeks for replacement shoes? I ordered Magnum shoes and was told they were out of stock. I was sent Doc Martens instead, which cut into my ankle, drawing blood and causing me to limp in pain within 20 minutes of them being on. I have been delivering mail in
snow and ice in an old pair of torn Cat training shoes. Surely this is not acceptable?Kev Smith, postman, East Yorkshire
Julie Brown, uniform and print supply adviser, replies:The pocket on the combat trousers was changed following feedback from employees, who told us the pocket on the left-hand side made life very diffi cult when on delivery. So we went with the majority view. Like all these things, it would be impossible to fi nd a solution that is perfect for absolutely everyone.
As for the footwear, problems in Magnum’s Indonesian factory had a dramatic impact on stocks at Dimensions, our uniform supplier. Magnum did work round the clock to get back on schedule, and size 10 Magnum shoes were due back in stock as we went to press. But, if required, Dimensions can change your order to Caterpillar boots.
I appreciate the situation was far from ideal, but alternative types of footwear were available while we were short of the Magnums.
I have been reading a lot about the revisions. In February’s Courier you state that there are now 2,395 high capacity trolleys in operation.
We had six delivered to our offi ce after our revision. One by one they broke down with various faults, and they sat in our bike shed for around 12 months unrepaired. They have now been removed, with none arriving to take their place. They are now to be replaced with vans.
Can you tell me how many of the 2,395 HCTs are still working?Name supplied, Bishop’s Stortford delivery offi ce
Mark Hoggar, head of delivery support, replies:I believe the trolley you refer to was a trial electric High Capacity Trolley (eHCT) designed for routes with hills or other
terrain issues. We bought 100 of these in 2008 and
then a further 64 with a modifi ed design in 2011. However, as a result of a number of reliability issues, we decided not to buy any more, and these trolleys are not used in newer revision sites.
Some delivery offi ces do continue to use the ones we already had, so we intend to do some work in the coming year to see what improvements can be made to them. I am aware of the history of problems your offi ce had with them, which is why we decided to withdraw them, but it would be good to get some user input on what they are like to use and what improvements you feel are necessary. If this is okay, I will arrange to visit your offi ce in the near future.
In terms of the 2,395 HCTs reported in Courier, these are not therefore the type you are referring to. We have, however, been doing a lot of work on improving this design too, so look out for an article in a future issue about this.
Jayne Collins’ reply (January 2013) about proposed standardised collection time windows for the next P739 card revision [following a trial] actually does our parcel recipients a dis-service.
Standard windows of from ‘2pm today’, ‘4pm today’ and ‘next working day’ are not much use in our offi ce. The enquiry offi ce closes from 2pm to 3pm for lunch so that many customers can visit us during their lunch breaks, which tend to be earlier. The offi ce closes at 5.30pm.
Most posties know they will be back at their delivery offi ce by a certain time, so adding 30 minutes to that time and writing that time in an ‘open’ window would be better. Some duties, particularly the Special Deliveries and Tracked runs, keep dropping their returns off as they come back to the offi ce for the next tranche of deliveries/pouch bags. If an item is back in the offi ce by 10am, surely a card that offers 2pm as the fi rst available time option is just not good customer service?
We should be trying to give recipients as wide an option as possible, not be restrictive.Dave Jamieson, postman, Oakham delivery offi ce
Jayne Collins, operations commercial interface manager, replies:It’s great to know our people are interested in coming up with improvements.
One of the aims of the trial was to evaluate which ‘collection from’ time was used most by the offi ces involved, and to ensure these options are the best we can offer customers. The results are still being analysed, but watch this space for an update.
Consistent ‘collection from’ options
would give our customers very clear and precise information nationwide.
A simple tick in one of a pre-printed list of options should also be quicker and easier for our postmen and women than having to think about the amount of time the customer will need to leave before collecting their item. Less writing at the doorstep should be a good thing, particularly during poor weather.
A consistent list of options also gives clear boundaries for enquiry offi ce staff to ensure parcels are booked in and available for collection. All our P739 cards have offi ce opening and closing times on the back, so customers can decide when it is convenient for them to collect their items.
OUT OF POCKET
BAD TIMING
THE EYES HAVE IT TROLLEY TROUBLES
PLEASE MAKE YOUR LETTER NO MORE THAN 100 WORDS AND ABOUT ONE CLEAR TOPIC
Following your feedback in our focus groups (see page 9) we will update you on some of the issues you’ve raised in previous letters
NEW
FEATURE
LETTERBOX All letters printed win a £25 One4All gift card, with a £50 gift card for each month’s star letter. We try to include as many publishable letters aspossible, but due to space we are unable to publish all of them.
LETTERBOXEMAIL [email protected]
WRITE TO COURIER LETTERS, 24-26 GREAT SUFFOLK STREET, LONDON SE1 0UE
TEXT COURIER TO 80800 (MAX 160 CHARACTERS)
PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR HOME ADDRESS WITH YOUR LETTER
YOU SAID,
In November 2012, we ran a letter from Gerard O’Connell, assistant manager at Cardiff North, about possible Royal Mail branded strips for hire vans at Christmas, to make them look more professional.
Richard Wiggins, head of commercial, updates us on this issue:Good news! We have indeed created new signage with our vehicle graphics provider, and this is now available to order – both for day-to-day use and also to support our hire fleet each Christmas.
Also in November’s issue, Keith Patrak, postman from Wiltshire, wrote in about unreliable equipment introduced as part of the new delivery methods. In his reply, programme manager Richard Moor mentioned that the team would be testing some modifications to improve the quality of high capacity trolleys (HCTs) at three delivery offices.
Richard updates us on the project: We’ve now developed and tested fixes to all the problems people reported with the Mk2 HCT, and we’re preparing plans to apply these to all the trolleys out in the operation.
This is due to start in early April, with a view to completing all delivery offices by mid-August.• Once the improved trolleys are up and running
in some offices, Courier will drop in to find out what people think.
THEY ACTED
I don’t usually have any complaints about our uniform, but that changed recently.
I needed somenew trousers, and was impressed with the prompt delivery. But the left-hand side pocket is now on the right-hand side.
I am right-handed, which means I carry the mail and parcels in my right hand, using my left hand to knock on doors and to post mail.
Now I have to move the mailbag to one side and reach across my torso with my left hand to access my right-hand pocket. This is incredibly awkward out on delivery, and at 49 it’s a little late to try to become left-handed!
Second, why do we have to wait four weeks for replacement shoes? I ordered Magnum shoes and was told they were out of stock. I was sent Doc Martens instead, which cut into my ankle, drawing blood and causing me to limp in pain within 20 minutes of them being on. I have been delivering mail in
snow and ice in an old pair of torn Cat training shoes. Surely this is not acceptable?Kev Smith, postman, East Yorkshire
Julie Brown, uniform and print supply adviser, replies:The pocket on the combat trousers was changed following feedback from employees, who told us the pocket on the left-hand side made life very diffi cult when on delivery. So we went with the majority view. Like all these things, it would be impossible to fi nd a solution that is perfect for absolutely everyone.
As for the footwear, problems in Magnum’s Indonesian factory had a dramatic impact on stocks at Dimensions, our uniform supplier. Magnum did work round the clock to get back on schedule, and size 10 Magnum shoes were due back in stock as we went to press. But, if required, Dimensions can change your order to Caterpillar boots.
I appreciate the situation was far from ideal, but alternative types of footwear were available while we were short of the Magnums.
I have been reading a lot about the revisions. In February’s Courier you state that there are now 2,395 high capacity trolleys in operation.
We had six delivered to our offi ce after our revision. One by one they broke down with various faults, and they sat in our bike shed for around 12 months unrepaired. They have now been removed, with none arriving to take their place. They are now to be replaced with vans.
Can you tell me how many of the 2,395 HCTs are still working?Name supplied, Bishop’s Stortford delivery offi ce
Mark Hoggar, head of delivery support, replies:I believe the trolley you refer to was a trial electric High Capacity Trolley (eHCT) designed for routes with hills or other
terrain issues. We bought 100 of these in 2008 and
then a further 64 with a modifi ed design in 2011. However, as a result of a number of reliability issues, we decided not to buy any more, and these trolleys are not used in newer revision sites.
Some delivery offi ces do continue to use the ones we already had, so we intend to do some work in the coming year to see what improvements can be made to them. I am aware of the history of problems your offi ce had with them, which is why we decided to withdraw them, but it would be good to get some user input on what they are like to use and what improvements you feel are necessary. If this is okay, I will arrange to visit your offi ce in the near future.
In terms of the 2,395 HCTs reported in Courier, these are not therefore the type you are referring to. We have, however, been doing a lot of work on improving this design too, so look out for an article in a future issue about this.
Jayne Collins’ reply (January 2013) about proposed standardised collection time windows for the next P739 card revision [following a trial] actually does our parcel recipients a dis-service.
Standard windows of from ‘2pm today’, ‘4pm today’ and ‘next working day’ are not much use in our offi ce. The enquiry offi ce closes from 2pm to 3pm for lunch so that many customers can visit us during their lunch breaks, which tend to be earlier. The offi ce closes at 5.30pm.
Most posties know they will be back at their delivery offi ce by a certain time, so adding 30 minutes to that time and writing that time in an ‘open’ window would be better. Some duties, particularly the Special Deliveries and Tracked runs, keep dropping their returns off as they come back to the offi ce for the next tranche of deliveries/pouch bags. If an item is back in the offi ce by 10am, surely a card that offers 2pm as the fi rst available time option is just not good customer service?
We should be trying to give recipients as wide an option as possible, not be restrictive.Dave Jamieson, postman, Oakham delivery offi ce
Jayne Collins, operations commercial interface manager, replies:It’s great to know our people are interested in coming up with improvements.
One of the aims of the trial was to evaluate which ‘collection from’ time was used most by the offi ces involved, and to ensure these options are the best we can offer customers. The results are still being analysed, but watch this space for an update.
Consistent ‘collection from’ options
would give our customers very clear and precise information nationwide.
A simple tick in one of a pre-printed list of options should also be quicker and easier for our postmen and women than having to think about the amount of time the customer will need to leave before collecting their item. Less writing at the doorstep should be a good thing, particularly during poor weather.
A consistent list of options also gives clear boundaries for enquiry offi ce staff to ensure parcels are booked in and available for collection. All our P739 cards have offi ce opening and closing times on the back, so customers can decide when it is convenient for them to collect their items.
OUT OF POCKET
BAD TIMING
THE EYES HAVE IT TROLLEY TROUBLES
PLEASE MAKE YOUR LETTER NO MORE THAN 100 WORDS AND ABOUT ONE CLEAR TOPIC
Following your feedback in our focus groups (see page 9) we will update you on some of the issues you’ve raised in previous letters
NEW
FEATURE
FESTIVE FUNDRAISERSLAST ISSUE, WE INTRODUCED YOU TO THE THREE DIVERSE CHARITIES WE’RE SUPPORTING THIS
CHRISTMAS. HERE, WE FIND OUT EXACTLY HOW OUR MONEY IS HELPING TO BRING SOME FESTIVE CHEER
BANK! Don’t forget to bank the mone y you raised during Movember.Mo Bros and Mo Sistas across the company were busy with the annual facial fundraiser last month. The cash is still rolling in, and we’re up to £228,000 so far, including matched funding.
Look out for
a round-up
of Movember
highlights
next time
– and if you haven’t
told Courier about
your mo, email us at
FareShare Our £15,000 grant is helping to cover the increased national transportation costs for the FareShare network during December. This will ensure greater volumes of nutritious food are delivered to more than 1,000 charities working with vulnerable and isolated individuals. The grant means 285 tonnes of food can be transported, to provide more than 680,000 meals.
If you would like to find out about volunteering or donating, email [email protected] or visit www.fareshare.org.uk
Abbeyfield
Our £10,000 grant will help 400 older people get to and from their nearest care home and have a delicious Christmas lunch.
The Times newspaper is also supporting Abbeyfield as one of its three Christmas charity beneficiaries.
If you know anyone living alone without much contact with others, let them know about Abbeyfield’s Coping at Christmas campaign, call 0845 0523 553 (free from BT landlines) or visit www.abbeyfield.com
Together for Short Lives
Our £25,000 grant will allow 250 families to enjoy Christmas lunch together in the comfort of their local children’s hospice. This includes nursing care for their child, the cost of being in the hospice and the meal itself.
Together For Short Lives is one of the charities sharing the proceeds from this year’s X Factor Christmas single.
If you would like to find out about volunteering opportunities available, please call 0117 989 7828 or visit www.togetherforshortlives.org.uk
Christmas donation…postman Michael Baralet, Abbeyfield marketing and communications managerRebecca Warbrick, PR managerSamantha Woods, fundraisingmanager Jill Burder and postwoman Emma La Monica
CO
PIN
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