[Mike Barrio]

So ..... they now want to sell off / privatise our Royal Mail?

We could see it coming, but I don't think many of us imagined that they would really do it

Not the best way to inspire small businesses with confidence!

[Hamish Young]

I can't make my mind up if the privatisation will be a good thing or a bad thing  However, with my glass empty.......

Things that had passed me by on this included the split between the Post Office and Royal Mail in 2012 - I don't remember that happening at all.
The deliberate course of action to (finally) privatise the mail delivery service offered by Royal Mail actually dates much further back than last year. Even so, I'm not entirely convinced that the government has fully considered or consulted on the impact the sale of Royal Mail will have on average Mr J Bloggs, small businesses and rural communities across the whole of the UK.

For example, is it realistic to assume that a one price delivery charge within the UK will be sustainable for the new Royal Mail I doubt it.

It boils my piss something chronic (especially on ebay) to see postage details which are free for UK delivery, I then bung in my postcode and face either a ridiculous surcharge for remote delivery or face the 'seller does not ship to Highlands & Islands". This isn't necessarily with alternative carriers either.... it's often Royal Mail they say they're using and that's a damn lie It's a lie because the truth is that we all rely on the Royal Mail very heavily to deliver at a fair price, the same fair price,  throughout the UK, wherever you live, 6 days a week. At least that level of service is guaranteed by law, but then again law can be changed.....

Then we have the staff to consider. The Royal Mail already has some pretty damn odd part time contracts for many of its staff, how will a privatised Royal Mail look at its work force From the radio this morning I heard that the current pay deal (which has been rejected by the union) is a basic 8.6% pay increase which is legally binding even after the company is sold off. Civil servants have a capped 1% pay deal which is more broadly representative of public service pay rises, so 8.6% is, on the face of it, pretty good but it doesn't reflect other factors. The fixed path to privatisation will lead to job cuts, it can only do that.

The privatisation will allow for additional funding (reads as debt to me) to be sourced which should allow for investments to improve services. The debt interest and repayment (sorry, additional funding) will wipe out the profit that Royal Mail currently makes, economics 101 suggest to me that if you need to lower costs to be competitive whilst still paying back investment finance (debt) then, for Royal Mail, the first two things to suffer will be the quality of service and the staff. Not necessarily in that order either.

So I guess I dislike the idea of a privatised Royal Mail quite intensely, pass me the Calms tablets and some coffee. Quick.

H

[Mike Barrio]

If our national/government run/government backed companies cannot offer equally competitive and efficient services as a private business, I would very humbly suggest that there can only be one reason for this ....... we have the wrong people sitting on the benches!

People are saying that this needs to happen so that Royal Mail can compete with other courier companies ...... but I currently use Royal Mail because they are so much better than their competitors! The Royal Mail post office network is far more user friendly than any courier company!

Hamish:  The truth is that we all rely on the Royal Mail very heavily to deliver at a fair price, the same fair price,  throughout the UK, wherever you live, 6 days a week

I totally agree 100%

Cheers
Mike

[Marc Fauvet]

being out-of-the-know, is this definitive ?

one thing that's certain is the quality and specially very fast delivery times of the RM have been as good as it gets when i compare to all the countries i've lived in. shame to loose this....

[Mike Barrio]

Hi Marc

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/delivered-3bn-sell-off-of-shares-in-royal-mail-goes-ahead.1378968443

[Iain Goolager]

I think they do a good job and privatisation of this vital service is another step in the country changing for the worse for the general public.

Iain

[Jim Eddie]

I think they do a good job and privatisation of this vital service is another step in the country changing for the worse for the general public.

Iain

I agree with Goo ,We have to decide if we want public services or private companies making profits for their shareholders.

 

Jim

[Ewan Lindsay]

'kin Royal Mail! Don't start me off! The Tossers have just cost me 300 quid...vouchers for airline-cancelled flights posted "1st Class" in London 9 days ago have not arrived home and I assume are now lost in the post.  Vouchers are needed to help pay for holiday flights (only voucher originals are accepted).

Service...?

Ewan

[Iain Goolager]

That's a pity Large Daddy, I guess our perception of something can only be defined by personal experience and I'd rate them higher than many of the private couriers.

Iain

[Ewan Lindsay]

Agreed.  The way I feel about them at the moment, I'd like to "go postal" on them; "say 'ello to my liddle friend..." 

Ewan

[alexp]

Hi I am new to this forum started fly fishing this year bought some lines off Mike, but I must say a few words about this privatisation of Royal Mail.
I worked for RM for nearly 38 yrs and its slide into privatisation started with the appointment of Adam Crozier who famously failed at the FA. He was given a huge salary but just cut jobs and services, shut a good pension scheme down just to save money,  anybody can make cuts especially on nearly £2m per year.
Then came Moya Green a Canadian nobody had heard of, she is also cutting jobs and famously getting RM in profit, isn't it funny when the Government want to sell something it all of a sudden becomes profitable.
When RM is sold she will disappear back to Canada very much richer and the Government will not be able to blame anybody she will be gone.

If its profitable WHY, WHY sell it, keep it.

If a buyer like TNT get RM staffing levels will be less service standards will be less, and a one price for all will go. When I worked in London before retiring in 2008 plans for geographic pricing were being developed by RM.
So do not be surprised if the next Government that comes in after RM has been privatised starts saying its not up to us to tell RM how to price its products they are a private company and if TNT have RM they will not be bothered what the public think. They will want to make as much profit as quick as possible.
Do not be surprised after privatisation if a letter is 50p up to 100mile radius and 80p over 100miles.

Letter mail volume has fallen from 84m items per day to 54m items per day if volumes are falling you will want to reduce costs and increase prices.

The only area that is growing is packets/ parcels and what does RM do, it does away with the term packet, all items are classed as parcels and they now charge you a lot more for the service.

RM is a great company doing a great job but can be expensive, do not expect a great job when privatised.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Sorry for the rant but RM is on a downhill slide and is dear to my heart after nearly 38yrs               

[Ben Dixon]

I've had far less issue with RM than I have with any delivery service, they're usually pretty good.  Prices are fair, service is good.  What does bug me is the scumbags that charge me Highlands & Islands delivery to addresses less than 20 miles from Aberdeen for shipping RM.  Privatisation only means we will end up paying more for the service and then probably in tax for a government bail out when some plank runs the service into the ground.

CHeers

Ben

[Iain Goolager]

If you think that's bad Ben, wait until  Scotland is Independent then it will be the Scottish Government who will be setting the zones.
All mail will go through 'The Peoples National Department for Internal Shipping & Central Belt Wealth' so the cost of sending an SNP dish towel from Durness to Durness 'Next Month Special Delivery' will be the wholly acceptable price of £98.47 1/2.

Relax Alex you won't succeed you nugget! No matter how often you loop Braveheart on STV or however much female members of a party are free to distribute brown envelopes (hand delivered of course so as not to get lost by some Chinese delivery company)

Someone else, England
 

[Ben Dixon]

If you think that's bad Ben, wait until  Scotland is Independent

If that happens I'll emigrate to Syria

[Jim Eddie]