Post Office Ltd to offer £20m fund for rural offices

The British retail company, Post Office Ltd, has said it will invest £20 million in a bid to support its chain of branches, particularly those located in rural, remote areas of the UK. The company currently oversees the running of 11,800 post offices throughout the UK, with 3,400 of the branches being situated in places where the post office itself is considered the only shop in the community.

Post Office Ltd has said these said community branches of their company were "critical" in regards to traditional banks in minimising the size of its physical retail networks within the UK due to their ability to provide access to bank accounts, in addition to features such as postal products and services.

The newly introduced Community Branch Fund is to be provided, drawn from the £640 million the government originally allocated to Post Office Ltd in November of last year. The company has said every community branch will be able to apply for the fund, with the investment to be allocated on an individual basis.

Post Office Ltd Chief Executive, Paula Vennells, has commented that the Community Branch Fund is part of a "powerful public purpose" of the business. Vennells also said: "The Community Branch Fund demonstrates our commitment to our customers. Where many organisations are withdrawing from communities we are staying put, supporting all our customers wherever they are."

Obama to provide $20 billion in financial aid for USPS

President of the United States of America, Barack Obama, has introduced a new Budget that acquires more than $20 billion in regards to financial and operational help for the US Postal Service.

The new Budget will offer to return $5 billion in pension surpluses to the US Postal Service over a period of 2 years. This will see the company's health benefits pre-funding system to likely contribute up to $9 billion in relief by 2016.

Obama's Budget proposes also operational changes with regards to the US Mail. Initial changes will start with a removal of Saturday mail delivery, moving to a five day schedule during the week instead.

The White House, Washington, USA

The Budget may see USPS move forward with curbside delivery, moving away from the delivery of mail to the doorstep. It has been said this will be applied "where appropriate" in the bid to save costs. Additionally to this, the Budget will also see the company able to associate more with both local and state governments to produce more revenue.

The White House is also preparing to permanently extend demanding and above-inflation postal rate increase which was introduced in December of last year by the Postal Regulatory Commission. It has been said by the White House that the postal company has "enormous value" in relation to the society's business communications and commerce, therefore there is a need for improvement to secure its future.

"The Budget proposals specific authorities to improve USPS efficiency and net revenue, along with financial relief measures, grounded in principles of fiscal responsibility as well as sound financial management," the White House has said.

Postal reform advocate, Senator Tom Carper, has commented on the proposed Budget saying: "I appreciate the president's continued support for postal reform, and welcome his budget's inclusion of a number of key principles." Carper appeared positive regarding the accurate calculation of postal retirement costs, the restructuring of the postal service's health benefits, as well as the decision to permanently expand the exigent rate increase.

Customers of USPS have conveyed unsure feelings towards the idea of the Budget forcing the company to make extreme cut backs to their "essential services." This thought has been agreed with by Vice President of Postal Affairs, Rafe Morrissey, who has described the move as potentially leading to a "weaker Postal Service." However, Morrissey has also said while this causes disappointment, "such a move offers much greater savings potential while maintaining a competitive level of service."

TNT Post UK scores major deal with NHS’ PRO-CURE agency

TNT Post UK has scored a two-year contract with PRO-CURE, an NHS service agency and its two partners, NHS Commercial Solutions and East of England.

300,000 GBP postal savings are expected from the new partnership with TNT UK which promised to eliminate the use of traditional franking machines. By offering letter prices of less than 26.8 pence per letter for transit times of two days (max.), TNT Post is outperforming its biggest competitor, Royal Mail.

“More than ever before, public savings are paramount”, said TNT Post UK CEO, Nick Wells. 

In fact, Royal Mail has announced a rate increase, i.e. 50p for Second Class and 60 for First Class letters.

“The NHS is under enormous pressure to make efficiency savings and we are really pleased that with TNT Post we have secured cash savings on postal collection services at a time of escalating prices”, confirmed Lee Collins, managing director of PRO-CURE.

TNT UK’s new postal service was launched for PRO-CURE trusts in Oxfordshire, Hampshire and Buckinghamshire at the beginning of June 2012.

Sources: Post&Parcel/PRO-CURE/TNT Post UK