Royal Mail Requests To Stop Saturday Letter Deliveries While Still Battling Strike Threats
Royal Mail has asked the UK Government if it could stop delivering letters on Saturdays as it fights to become operationally profitable following a £219 million loss for the 6-month period up to the 25th of September.
Don’t Miss
- Do you need a business bank account for your online business? Have a look at our review of the five best bank accounts for sellers, some of which are free with no minimum balance or deposits.
- Boost your social media engagement with Publer. Learn how you can save time writing engaging content faster with AI. [sponsored]
- eBay to compete with sellers now!
- New stamp prices and fee increases are coming from USPS on July 9.
- SMALL BUSINESS WEEK SPECIAL: Three tips for SMB ecommerce success in 2023.
The UK institution would continue to deliver parcels on all days of the week, but as it is seeing parcel volumes increase and letter volumes decrease they are looking for ways to make its way back to a sustainable model.
Royal Mail needs to ask the government for permission as it would require a change to the Universal Service, which states that letters must be delivered from Monday to Saturday.
To change the Universal Service, the Business Secretary would need to bring forward secondary legislation to amend the Postal Services Act 2011.
Similarly to the USPS in the USA and their Delivering for America plan, Royal Mail now finds itself at the crossroads of needing to take action in order to become profitable and sustainable for the future.
“We have always been clear we need change to survive. We have started turning the business around and will do whatever it takes.”
“We would prefer to reach an agreement with the Communication Workers Union (CWU) but in any case, we are moving ahead with changes to transform our business.” – Simon Thompson, Chief Executive of Royal Mail, said
Royal Mail & CWU Talks Continue
A big problem for Royal Mail remains with their ongoing despite with the Communication Workers Union and the threat of continuing strike action, especially on the run-up to their busiest time of year.
Some analysts believe that the recent strike action has cost Royal Mail upwards of £100 million with more strikes set to take place over the next few weeks coinciding with Black Friday and Cyber Monday peak dates.
We have been expecting an update from the CWU on the proposed strike action but it seems that talks and negotiations are still ongoing. Royal Mail did announce a brief statement saying they were hoping to avoid the upcoming strike action. In response, the CWU released this message to its members outlining their side of the ongoing negotiations.
We will of course keep you updated on any developments however it is not looking good for UK sellers and buyers if they use Royal Mail services over the next few weeks if there is no breakthrough.
Subscribe to Our Newsletter
We do not sell your information.
You can unsubscribe at any time.
Head over to our Facebook Group for Small Business Marketplace Sellers and interact with us and other small business owners. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn to stay up to date with relevant news and business insights for your online business.
Dave Furness
Dave is a Co-Founder of eSeller365. For over 10 years he has been involved with eCommerce with a particular interest in the marketplaces and the huge opportunities available for sellers when utilizing a multi-channel strategy. After a year of being the UK’s youngest eCommerce consultant, he built an education platform called UnderstandingE that showed the world how to utilize Magento as the “Third Generation of Multi-Channel software”.
Dave has also created a YouTube channel dedicated to entrepreneurship and eCommerce as well as a podcast dedicated to mental health awareness. When Dave isn’t working his main interests include learning and playing Chess, researching the Crypto and NFT space, and trying to find the nearest beach.