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Keeping you up to date
News from Royal Mail
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Service Updates for customers
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Royal Mail's Quality of Service figures
Royal Mail today welcomed a report by Postcomm confirming the accuracy of the quality of service figures published by the company.
Postcomm had looked into claims over the way quality of service was measured in a few areas of the UK. A Royal Mail spokesman said: “It’s essential customers can have full confidence in the quality of service figures we publish and we’re pleased Postcomm’s report has confirmed the accuracy of the published data, which is based on the independent measurement of tens of thousands of test letters sent every month.
“Postcomm’s 18-month investigation was extremely thorough. Although Postcomm found certain areas where we have been able to strengthen our systems, it found the actual quality of service figures had not been affected in any material way, there was no impact on customers and there had been no financial benefit to Royal Mail.”
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Royal Mail's Spring Quality Of Service Report
Disruption to UK air services caused by ash from the Icelandic volcano eruption this spring resulted in Royal Mail narrowly missing its First Class target in the period, according to the company’s latest quality of service report published today.
The majority of other quality targets, however, including Second Class and Standard Parcels, were achieved in the spring.
The latest preliminary figures for the summer months show that First Class mail has again been performing ahead of its 93.0% target.
Royal Mail operates the UK’s largest night-time air charter operation to fly First Class mail travelling longer distances, for example between Scotland and the south of England. Although First Class mail was transferred to road and ferry services during the period of disruption to UK flights in April, there are no alternative distribution routes which ensure next-day delivery.
The performance report for the period from the end of March to early June showed that 92.6% of First Class stamped and franked mail arrived the day after posting - but if it had not been for the air disruption caused by volcanic ash, First Class would have exceeded its 93.0% target.
The report shows Second Class stamped and franked mail exceeded its 98.5% target with a 98.6% performance, along with most business mail services, Standard Parcels and International Delivery for mail posted in the UK for European destinations. First Class bulk mail narrowly missed its target - again as a direct result of disruption to air services.
Mark Higson, Royal Mail’s Managing Director said: “We're very determined to keep improving our performance to ensure we consistently hit our targets and our people are very focused on delivering the best possible service at all times for all our customers."
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Information on VAT and postal services
As part of the budget on Wednesday 24th March 2010, the Government announced plans to introduce VAT on some of Royal Mail’s products and services from Monday 31st January 2011. The Government confirmed this in the Budget on 22nd June 2010. This follows a legal challenge to the VAT exempt status of our services and a ruling by the European Court of Justice on the services that can remain VAT exempt. The overwhelming majority of Royal Mail’s customers will be unaffected by the Government’s proposed changes in VAT and First and Second Class stamped and meter (franked) mail, Standard parcels and the large majority of Royal Mail’s other services will continue to be exempt from VAT.For further information please visit www.royalmail.com/vat
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Royal Mail extends parcel pick-up times with evening opening
Royal Mail is adding almost a quarter of a million extra hours a year to the opening times of its busiest delivery offices, making it easier for people to receive items they have ordered online or from a catalogue. This will see the hours of around 650 delivery offices extended to 8pm on Wednesdays and 2pm on Saturdays. From Wednesday 14 July, more than 200 delivery offices will be open until 8pm and around 350 offices will join the programme later in the summer. This follows a successful trial at 100 delivery offices in May.
Mike Brown, Royal Mail’s Fulfilment Director, said: “The majority of items ordered online are delivered first time but this investment by Royal Mail will help people who are not at home during the day to receive their item in cases where it is too big to go through the letterbox or needs a signature.”
He added: “With online sales continuing to grow, this initiative demonstrates our determination to develop products and services that help both retailers and their customers have greater choice and control over the delivery of items.”
The investment in extended opening hours builds on the choices already available to people who are not at home when delivery is attempted. Customers can arrange a redelivery to their home or a neighbour via www.royalmail.com/redelivery or ask for items to be taken to a Post Office® branch, through a service called Local Collect.
Royal Mail Tracked®, a new service recently launched by Royal Mail, also enables retailers to give their shoppers the ability to specify an alternative safe and secure delivery point, such as a porch or neighbour, should they not be at home when delivery was attempted.
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Royal Mail launches free self-serve online tool to help e-tailers reduce lost sales
Royal Mail has developed a free website analysis tool to enable e-tailers to improve the buying experience of customers and reduce shopping cart abandonment which costs the industry £2.7 billion in lost sales a year. The self-serve Delivery Promise Tool provides analysis of any e-tail website from a shopper’s view and takes just 15 minutes to complete.
The service gives advice on areas such as website navigation, the buying process, delivery options and information through to the post-purchase experience. E-tailers using the service receive a detailed report highlighting areas of the site that aren’t working as well as they could and recommendations on how to improve their service.
The launch follows the publication of Royal Mail’s latest Delivery Matters Research which analyses online shopping habits and attitudes.
Research highlights the need for e-tailers to provide clear and straightforward delivery information before a shopper places an order. During 2009 one in three buyers frequently abandoned their online shopping cart – resulting in lost sales of £2.7 billion - with more than half of abandoners citing unhappiness with the delivery charge as their reason. The 2009 Delivery Matters Research report found that approximately two thirds (60 percent) of online shoppers would continue or increase their usage of an e-tailer if clear information about delivery charges was provided.
Dan Hewett, Head of Small Business Goods Fulfilment at Royal Mail, said: “The online marketplace grows ever more competitive and having tempted shoppers to explore their stores, e-tailers simply cannot afford to miss out on sales because of poor website functionality and inadequate delivery information. Our research shows that delivery details and options remain a major influence on online shopping habits. The majority of e-retailers understand the importance of offering the best shopping experience online and Royal Mail’s Deliver Promise Tool is a fast and simple way to receive useful tips that can help them better achieve this goal.”
One company to benchmark its website with the Delivery Promise Tool is e-tailer TruffleShuffle, which sells clothing and accessories with a nostalgic '80s twist. Co-founder Claire Lewis said: "It confirmed we're doing most things right, particularly with our delivery choices and the way they're advertised. It also gave us some useful tips, like letting customers buy without registering first and free returns, which we are investigating now. We're constantly trying to improve the site's usability and ways to search for items. You can't sit still."
David Smith, Managing Director of IMRG, the industry body for online retailing, said: “In many cases the growth of larger multi-channel retailers is outstripping that of smaller pure online retailers and the Delivery Promise Tool is a simple and effective way of helping them to maximise sales. Another factor limiting the growth of some smaller e-retailers is consumer trust and IMRG has developed an ISIS (Internet Shopping Is Safe) charter mark that qualifying retailers can display on their websites to give consumers confidence in the service they will offer.”
The development of the Delivery Promise Tool follows Royal Mail’s launch of a new e-commerce fulfilment tool to help online retailers manage their inventory, accounts and logistics across multiple on and off-line sales channels, saving them time and money. The Royal Mail E-commerce Engine® is ideal for store-based, online and multi-channel retailers who want to expand their presence to new sales channels to grow their businesses.
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New Royal Mail online solution refines Door to Door Targeting
An online service allowing marketers to take a more intelligent approach to unaddressed mail campaigns was unveiled today by Royal Mail, reinforcing the business’s commitment to improved targeting, relevance and effectiveness.
Customer Finder is now available online to help businesses find and target new consumers or business clients more easily and efficiently, ultimately increasing ROI. The web-based service showcases functionality including choosing targets, granular search criteria, and building maps and reports.
Royal Mail Door to Door’s precision targeting solutions – which are free to customers – combine a suite of tools to enable advertisers to more effectively identify potential customers and improve the success of a campaign.
Royal Mail Door to Door can provide additional help to customers by further tailoring their campaign data to meet their specific requirements. For example, national and regional TV or radio advertising can now be supported by leaflet drops delivered only to residents living within those specific areas to create a fully integrated campaign.
The targeting can also focus on potential customers who live within a specific distance – both in miles and driving time – from the customer’s business.
Philip Rickets, Head of Door to Door Strategy, Marketing and Sales at Royal Mail, said: “We are committed to helping large and small businesses reach out to customers using our unaddressed mail service in as targeted, relevant and effective a way as possible, and Customer Finder extends our ability to do that.
“Door to Door is an effective way for companies to advertise their products and services, and this development will help them get even more from their budgets and reduce waste by helping them reach out to their intended audiences. Making Door to Door even more effective, and improving the relevance of items consumers receive, will also enable us to increase our market share in a responsible way.”
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Royal Mail's Address Management Unit appoints AFD Software Ltd
The Royal Mail’s Address Management Unit (AMU) has appointed AFD Software Ltd (AFD) to assist with the development and distribution of the Postcode Address File (PAF®) and its portfolio of address management products. In response to feedback from its customers, the AMU instigated a tender process to find a supplier to help develop innovative ways of providing its raw address data to direct customers and licensed Solutions Providers. The new agreement will see the AMU and AFD launch two media format options, namely an enhanced CD and a new FTP service. The FTP service will provide customers with instant access to their data and, in the second phase of the roll-out, will allow access to approximately 5,000 daily PAF® updates. The AMU will also be introducing new ways of communicating with their customers. All customers will receive an e-mail informing them that their data is ready to download or that their CD has been dispatched. CD customers will also be able to track their product using a new online tracking system. Miranda Dodd, Head of Royal Mail’s Address Management Unit said: “This is one of the most significant developments in the production and distribution of PAF® for many years. We selected AFD as they have a proven track record in introducing new technology and new media, and we are sure our customers will be pleased with the new enhanced formats which will be available”. Neville Hilton, AFD Software Business Development Director added: “For over fifteen years AFD has provided PAF® and data based software and services. As users of PAF® data ourselves, we know how much all AMU customers will value the new media formats, especially the new FTP service. We are delighted to be working with the AMU on streamlining and automating the production and delivery of PAF®”. All new products will be launched this summer. The AMU and AFD will support existing address management customers to help them migrate to their new data supply media.
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Civil wars, plague and the Gunpowder Plot: the Stuart Age features on new Royal Mail stamps
Ambitious, luckless, romantic, impulsive – four words to describe the Stuart age, whose rollercoaster rule lasted more than a century, during an unprecedented period of turmoil and insurrection.
The latest set of Royal Mail Special Stamps, The House of Stuart, issued 15 June 2010, features 11 stamps and includes all seven monarchs of the Royal House.
The Stuarts had already ruled Scotland for over two centuries before inheriting the English throne in 1603 when Elizabeth I of England, the last of the Tudors, died childless.
Following The Union of the Crowns between England and Scotland later that year, King James VI became James I of England, signaling the start of the House of Stuart’s turbulent reign which would last until the death of Queen Anne in 1714.
During that period the Stuart's endured the Gunpowder Plot, the English Civil Wars, religious upheaval, plagues, the Great Fire of London and the Glorious Revolution.
Philip Parker, Royal Mail Special Stamps spokesperson, said: “For many the Stuart age is remembered as probably the most calamitous that we have known, but it was also the most significant in our history in terms of the formation of our modern ideas of politics and liberty.”
The House of Stuart is the fourth issue in Royal Mail’s epic Kings and Queens series, which profiles every monarch from 1399 to the present day.
A special Miniature Sheet, The Age of the Stuarts, which accompanies the stamps, features the physician William Harvey, poet John Milton, architect and dramatist John Vanbrugh and the Battle of Naseby, one of the decisive battles of the English Civil Wars.
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Blueprint for small business success is worth £15 billion to the UK economy
Nearly half of the UK’s small and medium sized businesses are just one step away from accelerating their profitability potential and generating £15billion for the UK economy, a unique study of the key ingredients to business success has revealed. The study by Warwick Business School, commissioned by Royal Mail, reveals that 43% of small and medium sized businesses currently adopting the “blueprint for success” criteria have benefited from sales growth of 17% between 2006 and 2009. 44% are just one step away from achieving their potential and safeguarding their business by increasing their turnover growth by 34% over three years to match that of companies that currently follow the blueprint. A team of researchers has compared growth rates amongst 500 small and medium sized businesses and their competitors and identified six key factors that set firms apart, including human resources planning, research and development and growth ambition. Adopting any three of the six factors – as 43% of UK firms do currently – enables firms to outperform their competitors and the industry average in terms of growth and profitability. The six key factors vary in the probability that they will support above average performance (indicated in brackets). They are: Flexibility (45%) – adopting flexible and responsive managerial approaches will enable firms to meet and surpass customer expectations Business process efficiency (41%) – making active attempts to evaluate and optimise internal processes enables businesses to reduce costs and improve efficiency Marketing (38%) – using a variety of marketing methods, such as mailshots and the internet, enables firms to more effectively make potential customers aware of products and services Human resources planning (35%) – developing a plan for staff development and future employment increases a business’s flexibility and responsiveness and aids its growth aspirations Growth ambition (34%) – having a growth objective or ambition shapes a business’s strategy and its willingness to invest in development Research & development (32%) – a thorough understanding of the markets in which it works, and the best ways of delivering services, enables a business to compete more effectively Stephen Roper, Professor of Enterprise at Warwick Business School said: “The blueprint highlights the range of strategic capabilities in smaller firms and the potential for real growth amongst the UK’s SMEs. As the economy moves out of the recession and into a period of growth, new opportunities will emerge for many firms. Adopting the blueprint will help these firms to make the most of these new opportunities and maximise their growth and profit potential.” Tim Rivett, Head of Small Business, Royal Mail said: “These findings will help smaller firms to identify where they can improve their business and achieve growth. The characteristics are practical and easily applicable for the majority of businesses and should – along with advice and support from partners such as Royal Mail - help small businesses on their way to achieving the Blueprint for Success.” For more information and advice on how to achieve the Blueprint for Success, download the free guide at www.royalmail.com/blueprint.
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Royal Mail Quality Of Service Report 2009-2010
Royal Mail said today that First and Second Class quality of service improved significantly over the last six months but industrial action in 2009 along with disruption caused by severe winter weather meant most services fell short of their quality targets in 2009-10 despite the record high quality performances delivered last spring.
The latest quality of service report covering a 12-month period until March 2010 showed that Standard Parcels, European International Delivery and some business bulk mail beat their targets. However, 87.9% overall of First Class mail arrived the day after posting - below the 93.0% target for the year but more than ten percentage points above the 78.9% figure in the autumn during a period of several national one-day strikes by the CWU.
Second Class mail narrowly missed its 98.5% target for the year to the end of March 2010 with a 96.7% performance.
Mark Higson, Royal Mail's Managing Director, said: "Everyone in Royal Mail is focused on restoring quality of service to the target-beating levels we achieved a year ago and I’m delighted to say that the modernisation agreement we've reached with the CWU provides the stability and framework to complete our transformation to provide consistent, high quality, efficient service for all our customers."
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Royal Mail enhances data quality offering with improved portfolio
Royal Mail has added new functionality and flexibility to its National Change of Address (NCOA) portfolio, by expanding the NCOA stable to include broader, more responsive data quality products and services.
In response to feedback from the industry, Royal Mail has worked with data professionals to bring two up-to-the-minute propositions to market: NCOA® Suppress and NCOA® Update.
NCOA® Suppress replaces the Universal Suppression Service (USS), delivering extra functionality by providing goneaway suppression and cleansing in one service, as well as suppression and permanent flags. NCOA® Suppress also includes weekly and daily updates so that users can access the most up-to-date insight. The service is being supplied exclusively through verified Redirection data, and is Postcode Address File® (PAF)-cleansed, and is available now to new users.
NCOA® Update is a forwarding address tool which allows users to update address details on their database with new forwarding details. In the near future, it will also supply email and mobile phone details on request to update existing customer records as an additional data feed. NCOA® Update replaces the previous NCOA service, and the suppression-only option is no longer available.
For the first time, the new NCOA portfolio is be backed by a full history of a change of address data, across 34 million consumer records, providing improved match rates and greater historical insight into consumer relocations.
NCOA® Update will also allow linked moves to be chained for the first time, meaning that database marketers can track their records’ relocation history, but outputting only the most recently confirmed address.
To launch the new product portfolio, Royal Mail is offering the monthly NCOA® Suppress Licence free of charge for the first year* to resellers and mailing agents that buy NCOA® Update.
Keith Jones, Head of Data Strategy at Royal Mail, said: “Royal Mail is intent on investing in and developing its data assets to help database managers and marketers improve targeting and reduce waste to get the very best value from their campaign activities.
“Using the most accurate Redirection and PAF cleansed data, NCOA® Suppress and NCOA® Update provide additional peace of mind for database managers, with added flexibility for a more inclusive approach to goneaway cleansing and suppression.
“These new products create a unique customer view, allowing marketers to track lapsed customers through the provision of chained, historical Redirection data for the first time.”
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Royal Mail honours nation's unsung heroes with 1st Class People Awards
A charity founder, fundraiser and race organiser has been named Royal Mail’s “Postman of the Year” by TV presenter Christine Bleakley at the company’s 1st Class People Awards.
Lancing postman James Macdonald collected his accolade from Christine and Royal Mail Managing Director Mark Higson at a ceremony in London where awards were presented to 30 regional winners from all over the UK.
Heroes Run, the flagship event of the charity Passingiton James set up has so far raised nearly £300,000. James ran the 2004 Dublin marathon with a friend, dressed up as Batman and Robin to raise money to buy shoes for children at the Tenderfoot school in Nairobi; the idea for a ‘super hero fun run’ grew from there.
Six years on Passingiton has expanded the Tenderfoot School in Kenya, begun a five-year building project for the Dreamlands School in Ghana, and is about to begin a project in conjunction with the Fresh Start Foundation to build a learning/community centre for the Kwinella First School in Gambia.
Royal Mail was contacted by thousands of customers who nominated their postman or woman as an ‘unsung hero’ in these popular annual awards. Christine Bleakley said: “In the UK, our postmen and women are a group of very remarkable people who contribute so much to our society. Their acts of kindness, fundraising and commitment to volunteering, make a real difference to the local communities where they live and work.”
Amongst the 30 regional award winners are 12 examples of people being saved from life threatening situations by a postman or postwoman. The national total is probably far higher with 4,500 trained first aiders who deal with emergencies every day.
Stephen Jones from Bangor and Vinny Earl from Droylsden are joint winners of Royal Mail’s National Bravery Award for dramatic rescues.
Mark Higson said: “All of these winners are fantastic examples of bravery, selflessness and helping others often in extraordinary circumstances. These examples are the tip of the iceberg and I would like to congratulate everyone who was nominated, and also say thank you to all the Royal Mail people who are doing amazing things, but want to keep out of the lime light. Everyone deserves to be recognised, and I’m delighted that they all work for Royal Mail.”
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Royal Mail reunites wartime evacuees on new stamps
'Homeland Heroes' on Second World War celebrated 70 years on
An iconic and powerful wartime photograph of three young children, perfectly epitomising an evacuee scene, features on one of 12 new stamps issued by Royal Mail.
The image is part of the ‘Britain Alone’ stamp issue which pays tribute to the war generation, who 70 years ago resolved to 'dare and endure' on the Home Front, when Britain and the Commonwealth stood alone against the Axis Powers.
The touching image of Barbara Southard (nee Dawson) flanked by her brother John and sister Rosemary was taken in 1941 at Kings Cross station as the three awaited evacuation to Northampton – complete with labels attached to their lapels. Barbara, the oldest of the three, is captured putting a protective arm around her siblings as they waited to embark on their journey.
Now almost 70 years on, and following extensive research, Royal Mail has brought the three siblings – now in their 70s – back to the same station to recreate the picture that will appear on millions of 60p stamps.
If Churchill was seen as man of the moment, the mass-evacuation of 338,000 British and French service personnel at Dunkirk was certainly the event which summed up the people’s determination to succeed despite significant odds. To commemorate this incredible event Royal Mail is also issuing a special Dunkirk Miniature Sheet of four stamps which mark the 70th anniversary of the Miracle of Dunkirk.
Buy this issue
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Royal Mail launches one-stop e-commerce engine to support online retailers
Royal Mail today announced the launch of a new e-commerce fulfilment tool to help online retailers manage their inventory, accounts and logistics across multiple on and off-line sales channels, saving them time and money.
The Royal Mail E-commerce Engine™ is ideal for store-based, online and multi-channel retailers who want to expand their presence to new sales channels to grow their businesses.
The launch of the engine complements Royal Mail’s delivery and warehousing offering for online retailers and creates a truly integrated end-to-end service.
The internet-based tool will integrate seamlessly with a retailer’s existing processes to enable complete visibility and management through a single platform including: - Sales orders – even the ability to combine orders for the same customer
- Automated and manual customer communications
- Total inventory and stock control with supplier management
- Pricing by channel
- Webstore and eBay store creation
- Management of eBay and auction site listings and sales
- Returns and refund processing
- Reporting and maintenance tools
The engine is aimed at online retailers with a turnover generally above £500k who want to drive sales and maximise growth opportunities, better communicate with customers and save time on administrative processes, whilst managing costs and efficiency.
Dan Hewett, Head of Small Business Goods Fulfilment at Royal Mail, said: “Opportunities in the online retail market continue to increase as the range of sales channels expands and many businesses either don’t have the time or expertise to take advantage of them in a cost effective way.
“The Royal Mail E-commerce Engine™ has been developed to give small and medium sized companies the capability to open and exploit new online sales channels efficiently, while ensuring excellent customer service remains at the core of their business.”
“Managing stock, payment, logistics and returns across different sales channels is a challenging and complex task, but this tool helps them do that effectively.”
Today’s launch supports Royal Mail’s drive to develop products and services that meet the changing needs of its retail customers, helping them to make the most of market opportunities, run their operations as effectively as possible and improve customer service.
For further information, potential customers should call Royal Mail on 08457 950 950 or visit www.royalmail.com
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Direct marketing industry flocks to Royal Mail's Mail Media Centre in first year following launch
Royal Mail today revealed that the industry resource it developed for marketers a year ago has proved a hit with more than 4,000 registrations.
mmc.co.uk was launched to provide insight, training and innovation for marketers and help them make the most of direct mail in their integrated marketing campaigns.
And reaction has exceeded all expectations with marketers and agencies representing advertisers responsible for more than a third (36 per cent) of direct mail spend now signed up.
The site has garnered total membership exceeding initial target registration by 146%. The number of advertisers using the site is also increasing month on month, and 73% of the top 15 advertising agencies are registered to the site.
Aimed at the UK’s top 3,000 advertisers and 500 key agencies, the online resource serves to reinforce the value of direct mail in the current communication mix and demonstrate how it can boost results.
mmc.co.uk showcases examples of great creative, provides expert advice from industry authorities on how to maximise return on investment and features all the latest industry research from a variety of independent sources, including Nielsen.
The site is free to view and subscribers can register to receive all relevant updates. Content is regularly updated, ensuring that anyone considering direct mail has immediate access to all the latest solutions and statistics.
Royal Mail continues to develop the resource to include new features such as monthly trackers, increased expert commentary and the latest web functionality applications.
Antony Miller, Head of Media Development at Royal Mail, said: “We are delighted with the success of mmc.co.uk in its first year. The site receives high levels of traffic and has so far exceeded all our expectations. The number of registrations by advertisers and agencies reflects the fact that the site caters for all our target audiences. It also highlights the continued strength of direct mail in the communications mix.
“We will continue to grow and improve the site, refreshing content on a regular basis to make it the one-stop resource for all direct marketing needs.”
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Royal Mail backed mailing-house partnership signs 100th member
The Strategic Mailing Partnership™, a joint initiative between Royal Mail and the UK mailing house industry, has surpassed the landmark of 100 members in just three months since it launched, it was announced today.
The partnership was set up in January to drive developments and shape the future of the mailing house industry. Following a busy first quarter of activity, the partnership is pleased to reveal that 112 mailing houses have now joined the body.
Chaired by direct marketing industry stalwart and former Postwatch vice-chair Judith Donovan CBE, the new organisation reflects Royal Mail’s desire to work more closely with mailing houses and help develop products and services, drive forward modernisation and tackle issues affecting the industry.
The Strategic Mailing Partnership™ is steered by a board featuring 12 executives from a cross-section of mailing houses working alongside Judith Donovan CBE, as well as three Royal Mail representatives.
Next steps for the partnership include its launch conference on May 13 in London to debate the future of the industry. The conference feature speakers include Judith Donovan CBE, leading members of the mailing house industry including John Watson, Managing Partner of Watson Phillips and Norman, and Mike Colling, Managing Director of Mike Colling and Company, as well as Royal Mail’s Managing Director Mark Higson.
Judith Donovan CBE said: “Mailing houses can be considered the unsung heroes of the direct mail industry because their efforts and expertise are often overlooked. The partnership was set up to bring the views and concerns of mailing houses to the fore, and the need for a collective industry voice is clearly desired. We aim to make the spring conference the centrepiece of activity to continue to raise the profile of members.”
Mailing houses handle around 90 per cent of all Royal Mail bulk mailings and use its whole spectrum of products, including Presstream, Mailsort and Walksort.
Jim Bulmer, Head of Mailing House Development at Royal Mail, said: “We are delighted with the number of members to join the partnership so far and we hope more mailing houses will sign up so that we can work collectively to shape the future of the industry.”
The conference is open to members of the Strategic Mailing Partnership™ and mailing house representatives interested in joining should email helen.poole@royalmail.com.
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Direct marketing industry beats Defra recycling targets
In 2003, the direct marketing industry agreed to tough voluntary recycling targets set in conjunction with Defra, with the aim of significantly reducing waste material during the subsequent decade.
We are pleased to report that last year, 76.5 per cent of direct marketing material was recycled - outstripping the 2009 target of 55 per cent as well as the 70 per cent goal for 2013.
This is no small achievement. Through a combination of education, better targeting techniques, greater availability of kerbside recycling facilities, as well as the combined efforts of Defra’s partners including the Direct Marketing Association and Royal Mail to produce initiatives such as PAS2020 and Sustainable® Mail, the entire sector has taken the responsibility of recycling by the scruff of the neck.
At a time of increasing scrutiny on the environmental performance of business, it is pleasing that paper-based direct marketing is taking the issue seriously and acting in a positive way.
This is also benefiting businesses who take a more sustainable and targeted approach to direct marketing as it has resulted in improved response rates from consumers since 2003.
But as encouraging as the statistics in this report are, all stakeholders in the direct marketing industry must continue their efforts to maintain and improve sustainable practices. Defra and industry partners will soon begin meetings to develop a new voluntary agreement to ensure direct marketers continue to make great strides towards a greener future.
Download the direct mail waste prevention full report here
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Royal Mail quality of service
Royal Mail's First Class quality of service performance fell below target in the autumn of 2009-2010, a period marked by repeated national industrial action.
The third quarter report on quality of service showed that nearly eight in 10 First Class stamped letters (78.8%) arrived the next working day after posting, below the 93.0% target, while 93.3% of Second Class letters arrived on time within three working days after posting, below the 98.5% per cent target.
Business bulk mail services were also below target during the autumn quarter. However, targets for European international delivery mail were exceeded by 7.5 percentage points.
Mark Higson, Managing Director of Royal Mail Letters, said: "We are clearly concerned that customer service was disrupted by industrial action, but strike action ended with the interim agreement reached with the union in early November and we are now completely focused on restoring quality of service to the record 'above target' level we achieved in the spring of 2009, prior to the strikes."
View the latest quality of service report
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