Download or read book Saving the Royal Mail s universal postal service in the digital age written by Richard Hooper and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2010-09-10 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Coalition Government asked Richard Hooper to update the 2008 report "Modernise or decline: policies to maintain the universal postal service in the United Kingdom" (Cm. 7529, 2008, ISBN 9780101752923). He finds the universal postal service still under serious threat, with most of the original causes for concern having got worse: the market and Royal Mail's market share continue to decline; the company has still not modernised sufficiently; the accounting pension deficit has grown from £2.9bn to £8.0bn; the current regulatory regime is not fit for purpose. The 2008 recommendation that private sector capital is required by Royal Mail is reiterated, for several reasons. The company is unlikely to generate sufficient cash to finance the modernisation required. Private sector capital will inject private sector disciplines and reduce the risk of political intervention in commercial decisions. And the state of the public finances means that Royal Mail will find it harder to compete for Government capital against other public spending priorities. But private capital will not be attracted without action on the pension deficit and the regulatory regime. The historic pension deficit should be taken over by the public purse. A new regulatory framework must be created that increases certainly for investors in the postal services sector in general and in Royal Mail in particular. Postcomm has recently consulted on a new framework, and this should be built upon. This update sets out the high level principles that should guide regulation, ensuring the overall burden is reduced.

Download or read book Delivering for the future written by Great Britain: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2010-10-13 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper outlines the Government's proposals that aim to safeguard the universal postal service and secure sustainable futures for the Royal Mail and the Post Office. It follows on from two reports by Richard Hooper ("Modernise or decline ... ", Cm. 7529, 2008, ISBN 9780101752923 and "Saving the Royal Mail's universal postal service in the digital age", Cm. 7937, 2010, ISBN 9780101793728). The associated Postal Services Bill (Bill 78, ISBN 9780215546357) will allow private sector investment in Royal Mail to bring in commercial disciplines and the potential for new capital. The Government will sell shares in Royal Mail to achieve this investment. An employee share scheme will also be established which will hold at least 10 per cent of the equity in Royal Mail. The historic pension deficit of some £8.4 billion will be transferred to Government and a new public sector pension scheme created. The Government also makes clear that the Post Office is not for sale, but the Bill allows for the possibility of mutual ownership in the future. Finally, the regulation of the postal services sector is to be modernised. The responsibility for the mail sector will transfer from Postcomm to Ofcom, with a primary responsibility to act in a way that will secure the future of the universal postal service. Extra safeguards for the universal postal service are put in place by the Bill.

Download or read book Postal Services in the Digital Age written by M. Finger and published by IOS Press. This book was released on 2014-06-11 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years, the postal sector has undergone radical changes, which have primarily been driven by operational and technological developments. Not only has the advent of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) added competition to the market, but it has also provided ample opportunity for the broadening and improvement of services and product range._x000D_ This book deals with the challenges faced by the postal sector in the digital age, and with the vast opportunities that technological advancements offer postal operators with regard to developing new business solutions and services tailored to the needs of their customers. It provides an analysis of these opportunities and identifies the ways in which postal operators might benefit from the digital age and new market requirements. The book is divided into three main parts: various digital dimensions; e-commerce challenges; and opportunities for partnership with governments. A final chapter discusses the developments described in the book and the views and ideas of the authors._x000D_ The book will be of interest to all those responsible for developing and running postal services, as well as to anyone affected by the changes which have already taken place or the possibilities opening up for new and improved services.

Download or read book Multi Modal Competition and the Future of Mail written by Michael A. Crew and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2012 with total page 361 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This compilation of original papers selected from the 19th Conference on Postal and Delivery Economics and authored by an international cast of economists, lawyers, regulators and industry practitioners addresses perhaps the major problem that has ever faced the postal sector – electronic competition from information and communication technologies (ICT). This has increased significantly over the last few years with a consequent serious drop in mail volume. All postal services have been hard hit by ICT, but probably the hardest hit is the United States Postal Service, which has lost almost a quarter of its mail volume since 2007. The loss of mail volume has a devastating effect on scale economies, which now work against post offices, forcing up their unit costs. Strategies to stem the loss in volume include non-linear pricing or volume discounts, increased efficiency and the development of new products. This loss of mail volume from ICT is one of a number of current problems addressed in this volume. The Universal Service Obligation (USO) continues to be a leading issue and concern that ICT undermines postal services' ability to finance the USO is discussed. The importance of measuring and forecasting demand and costs take on even greater importance as ICT undermines the foundations of the postal business. This thought provoking book brings to bear new analyses of the most serious threat post offices have ever faced and raises fundamental questions as to the future of mail. Multi-Modal Competition and the Future of Mail is an ideal resource for students, researchers in regulation and competition law, postal administrations, policy makers, consulting firms and regulatory bodies.

Download or read book Masters of the Post written by Duncan Campbell-Smith and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2011-11-03 with total page 840 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The origins of the Post Office go back to the early years of the Tudor monarchy: Brian Tuke, a former King's Bailiff in Sandwich, was acknowledged as the first 'Master of the Posts' by Cardinal Wolsey in 1512, and went on to build up a network of 'postmasters' across England for Henry VIII. Over the following five hundred years the Royal Mail expanded to an unimaginable degree to become the largest employer in the country, and the face of the British state for most people in their everyday lives. But it also faced the demands of an increasingly commercial marketplace. With the election of Margaret Thatcher in 1979, the possibility of privatising the Royal Mail has prompted passionate arguments - and has added immeasurably to the difficulties of running it. In charting the whole of this extraordinary story, Duncan Campbell-Smith recounts a series of remarkable tales, including how postal engineers built the first programmable computer for the wartime code-breakers of Bletchley Park and how the Royal Mail managed to successfully continue delivering post to the front lines during two world wars, but also how they failed to avert the Great Train Robbery of 1963. He brings to life many of the dominant personalities in the Royal Mail's history - from Rowland Hill, who imposed a uniform penny post and set the great Victorian expansion on its way, to Tony Benn who championed the modernisation of the service in the 1960s and Tom Jackson who led the postal workers' biggest union through fifteen frequently stormy years up to 1982. This is the first complete history of the Royal Mail up to the present day, based on its comprehensive archives, and including the first detailed account of the past half-century of Britain's postal history, made possible by privileged access to confidential records. Today's debate over the future of the Royal Mail is shown to be just the ;atest chapter in a centuries-old conflict between its roles raising revenue and serving the public. Will its employees remain, like Brian Tuke's postmasters, servants of the Crown? This book could hardly appear at a more timely moment.

Download or read book The Future of the Universal Postal Service in the UK written by Great Britain. Dept. for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2009 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This document builds on the review led by Richard Hooper, "Modernise or decline: policies to maintain the universal postal service in the United Kingdom" (Dec. 2008, http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file49389.pdf). The Hooper review found deficiencies and problems with: performance (40 per cent less efficient than European counterparts); the pension deficit (one of the largest in Britain); pricing (increases would not generate enough revenue to offset falling volumes); industrial relations (60 per cent of days lost through industrial action in 2007 in the whole economy were accounted for by Royal Mail); and the relationship with the regulator, Postcomm (difficult). The Government proposes: a new regulatory framework, including transferring responsibility for regulation from Postcomm to Ofcom; tackling the pension deficit; inviting other postal or network operators to come forward with proposals to develop strategic partnerships with Royal Mail (but such arrangements would exclude Post Office Ltd, responsible for the network of post offices). The Postal Services Bill (HL), HL Bill 24, ISBN 9780108454530) published alongside this document sets out the proposals, placing the universal service as the overriding objective of the regulatory system. The Government will continue to provide for financial support for the universal service. Royal Mail will remain in the public sector. The Government is committed to maintaining a network of around 11,500 post offices. Post Office Ltd will become a sister company of Royal Mail Group Ltd with equal status to the letters business within the Royal Mail group of companies.

Download or read book The Future of the Postal Sector in a Digital World written by Michael Crew and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-11-28 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Worldwide, postal operators have been slow to address the threats from and opportunities created by electronic competition. The European Commission and member states are wrestling with these issues, while at the same time continuing to deal with the interrelated issues of implementing entry into postal markets and maintaining the universal service obligation. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 in the U.S. exacerbated financial and managerial problems faced by USPS that result in part from electronic substitution for letter delivery. A major aim of this book is to examine policies to address postal operations in a digital world and ways in which postal operators might reinvent themselves to respond to threats and exploit opportunities. Potential opportunities examined include parcels, e-commerce, digital delivery, regulatory innovations and pricing. This book will be of interest to postal operators, regulatory commissions, consulting firms, competitors and customers, experts in the postal economics, law, and business, and those charged with the responsibility for designing and implementing postal sector policies. Researchers in regulatory economics, transportation technology and industrial organization will also find considerable food for thought in this volume.

Download or read book The Value of Everything written by Mariana Mazzucato and published by PublicAffairs. This book was released on 2018-09-11 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Modern economies reward activities that extract value rather than create it. This must change to ensure a capitalism that works for us all. Shortlisted for the FT & McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award A scathing indictment of our current global financial system, The Value of Everything rigorously scrutinizes the way in which economic value has been accounted and reveals how economic theory has failed to clearly delineate the difference between value creation and value extraction. Mariana Mazzucato argues that the increasingly blurry distinction between the two categories has allowed certain actors in the economy to portray themselves as value creators, while in reality they are just moving around existing value or, even worse, destroying it. The book uses case studies-from Silicon Valley to the financial sector to big pharma-to show how the foggy notions of value create confusion between rents and profits, reward extractors and creators, and distort the measurements of growth and GDP. In the process, innovation suffers and inequality rises. The lesson here is urgent and sobering: to rescue our economy from the next inevitable crisis and to foster long-term economic growth, we will need to rethink capitalism, rethink the role of public policy and the importance of the public sector, and redefine how we measure value in our society.

Download or read book Modernise Or Decline written by Richard Hooper and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2008 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This review (Cm. 7529, ISBN 9780102958393) was established to maintain the universal postal service, that is the collection, sorting, transportation and delivery of letters to all 28 million businesses and residential addresses. It sets out a number of conclusions and recommendations on how the universal service can be maintained. The postal service is seen as having a strong social and economic rationale. Customers place a high value on the affordability of the service, on a uniform tariff, and deliveries on six days per week. The Review states that the post offices provide a vital point of access for residential consumers and small businesses. The universal service is under threat though, with the explosion of digital media - the internet, email, mobile text and broadcasting - which has prompted an unprecedented decline in the letters market. The Review does see a positive future for the postal service, provided that postal companies are able to respond quickly to the changing needs of customers and embrace the opportunities which new technology brings. Although the Royal Mail is the only company currently capable of providing the universal service in the UK, it is much less efficient than many of its European peers and faces severe difficulties. Therefore a radical reform of the Royal Mail's network is inevitable, and the organisation needs to modernise faster. To sustain the universal service, the Royal Mail needs to tackle inefficiency, the pension deficit, and the difficult relationships between the company, unions and regulator. The Review sees two distinct phases to modernisation: (i) Transformation: that is, changing the culture of the organisation, by improving efficiency and reducing costs; (ii) Diversify: that is, finding new sources of revenue either by providing related products or expanding to cover a wider geographical area. The Review believes that the Royal Mail urgently needs commercial confidence, capital and corporate experience to modernise quickly and effectively, and recommends a strategic partnership with one or more private sector companies with demonstrable experience of transforming a major business, ideally a major network business, but that Post Office Ltd should remain wholly within public sector ownership.

Download or read book Postal services in Scotland written by Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Scottish Affairs Committee and published by The Stationery Office. This book was released on 2011-01-09 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Committee's report considers two key issues: the maintenance of a universal service and the continuation of a sustainable Post Office network across Scotland. The report welcomes assurances that Scotland would not be made exempt from the universal service obligation. Further clarification is needed on Ofcom's power to designate more than one universal service provider. Ofcom should be required to consult with consumers, small businesses and vulnerable users in remote, rural and island communities in Scotland before it recommends any changes to the existing USO. There are considerable advantages to a long, stable and robust relationship between Royal Mail Group and Post Office Ltd and the Committee recommends that a ten year Inter Business Agreement should be reached prior to any sale of Royal Mail. On the Post Office network, the Bill makes no provision for the number of Post Offices and does not set out criteria for access to the network, a matter of concern because the current criteria could be met by 7,500 branches rather than the existing 11,500 branches. This could lead to many closures in Scotland. The Committee recommends that the Government gives assurances to preserving the existing network of branches. Elements of Outreach Post Offices, which replaced 102 Post Office branches in rural and remote parts of Scotland, are not sufficiently robust or reliable to provide an adequate service, according to the Committee, and it fears the new Post Office Local risks downgrading the service further. Improvements should be delivered as a matter of urgency.

Download or read book Saving the Mail written by Rick Geddes and published by American Enterprise Institute. This book was released on 2003 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive overview of the U.S. Postal Service, its organization, and its performance since its creation by the 1970 Postal Reorganization Act.

Download or read book Politics of Postal Transformation written by Robert M. Campbell and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 2002-03-27 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The postal sector is a multi-billion dollar set of activities that touches billions of lives daily and continues to be one of the world's largest employers. Until recently all Posts were monopolies owned by governments in order to maintain a universal postal service. However, in response to technological and international competition as well as public disenchantment with postal subsidies and inefficiencies, governments have embraced a range of new strategies. In The Politics of Postal Transformation Robert Campbell investigates and analyses the most important policy innovations in recent years as countries struggle to create a postal regime that matches domestic political expectations with international and technological realities. Through extensive interviews with numerous key government, regulatory, postal, and union officials in North America, Europe, and Australasia, he identifies four models or strategies, each reflecting particular national characteristics and ambitions: from privatization (Netherlands, Germany) and deregulation (Finland, Sweden, New Zealand) to increased national support (France) and mixed strategies (UK, Australia). Campbell's comparative analysis provides a backdrop for a set of recommendations for policy-makers and lays the foundation for informed speculation about future international postal developments and the possible domination of the system by a select group of postal behemoths.

Download or read book The Role of the Postal and Delivery Sector in a Digital Age written by Michael A. Crew and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2014 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume, the result of the 21st Conference on Postal and Delivery Economics (Ireland, 2013), describes the continuing problem of the decline of the postal sector in the face of electronic competition and offers strategies for the survival of mail services in a digital age. The 25 original papers in this collection provide econometric analyses on the changing demand and elasticity of mail in the modern era. Proposed solutions to declining interest in the postal sector include closer links between mail services and the digital sphere, expansion of the parcel sector, changes to the universal service obligation, legal reform and regulatory change. Professors and students of regulatory economics will have an interest in this book, as will managers and other decision-makers working within the postal sector. Contributors include D. Bailly, L. Balk Hope, C. Borsenberger, A.T. Bozzo, M.D. Bradley, T.J. Brennan, K.L. Capogrossi, I. Carslake, M.M. Cigno, K.K. Clendenin, J. Colvin, H. Cremer, M.A. Crew, P. De Donder, B.K. Eakin, R. Eccles, K. Elkelä, A. Fratini, F. Fustier, R.R. Geddes, D. Geradin, B. Gough, Å. Gustafsson, A. Haller, J. Hearn, H. Hennessy, A. Hildingsson, A.C. Houck, G. Houpis, C. Jaag, L. Janin, D. Joram, S. Lécou, J. Levin, C. Malamataris, B. Marsh, M. Meidinger, M. Moloney, H. Nikali, C.J. Paterson, E.S. Pearsall, M.K. Perkins, J. Pickett, R. Sahly, S. Selander, C. Sheedy, M. Srinivasan, V.I. Stanford, C. Strobel, G. Swinand, U. Trinkner, T. Uotila, J. Vantomme, T. Walsh

Download or read book Preserving the People s Post Office written by Christopher W. Shaw and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Christopher Shaw, the book's author said, "Through preferential postage rates for nonprofits the Postal Service facilitates civic involvement and a healthy democracy." Nader also noted, "Postal employees are fairly remunerated in an increasingly low-wage, low benefit 'Wal-Mart' economy." According to Nader, "Post offices serve as the heart of community life in neighborhoods and towns nationwide and the presence of postal workers on community streets make them safer, as the many beneficiaries of their frequently heroic efforts attest." "The lack of citizen-consumers' involvement in the recently passed postal reform legislation has highlighted the need for a public dialogue about the future of our postal system. The book provides a starting point for that conversation," stated Nader.

Download or read book Postal and Delivery Innovation in the Digital Economy written by Michael A. Crew and published by Springer. This book was released on 2014-12-12 with total page 334 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Worldwide, postal and delivery economics is the subject of considerable interest. The postal industry’s business model is in drastic need of change. Notably, the European Commission and member states are still wrestling with the problems of implementing liberalization of entry into postal markets, addressing digital competition, and maintaining the universal service obligation. In the United States, the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 has, perhaps, exacerbated some of the problems faced by the United States Postal Service (USPS). Currently, the USPS has serious financial problems because of difficulties it faces in making changes and the failure of the Act to address problems that have been long-standing. Electronic competition is severe and affects post offices (POs) worldwide, which have been slow to address the threat. This book addresses this new reality and includes discussion of how POs may attempt to reinvent themselves. Parcels and packets will play a major role in developing new business models for postal operators. This book is of use not only to students and researchers interested in the field, but also to postal operators, consulting firms, utilities, regulatory commissions, Federal Government Departments and agencies of the European Union and other countries.

Download or read book Sophie s World written by Jostein Gaarder and published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux. This book was released on 2007-03-20 with total page 735 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A page-turning novel that is also an exploration of the great philosophical concepts of Western thought, Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World has fired the imagination of readers all over the world, with more than twenty million copies in print. One day fourteen-year-old Sophie Amundsen comes home from school to find in her mailbox two notes, with one question on each: "Who are you?" and "Where does the world come from?" From that irresistible beginning, Sophie becomes obsessed with questions that take her far beyond what she knows of her Norwegian village. Through those letters, she enrolls in a kind of correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre, with a mysterious philosopher, while receiving letters addressed to another girl. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up? To unravel this riddle, Sophie must use the philosophy she is learning—but the truth turns out to be far more complicated than she could have imagined.

Download or read book The Future Is in the Post written by Kristian J. Sund and published by . This book was released on 2012-03 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is about 'the post' and its future. For many this means direct mail, and a common assumption is that this is a sector in almost inevitable decline. But to believe this is to take a far-too-limited view. In fact never has the business of the post been more exciting and challenging, and seldom have there been so many opportunities that could be grasped. With digital convergence direct mail has become an integral part of the media mix; electronic commerce has contributed to a healthy development in the traffic of parcels; and for those postal operators active in banking, finance and insurance competition and digitisation have offered new opportunities. In The Future Is in the Post an international group of highly experienced industry thought leaders discuss some of the strategic choices facing postal operators