Royal Mail claims Christmas saw improved service

by Daniel Farey-Jones,, Brand Republic 14-Jan-05, 07:00

LONDON - Royal Mail chairman Allan Leighton has said Royal Mail's quality of service over Christmas was among its best for 10 years, as it reported a record trading performance for the period.

Leighton said that preliminary quality of service figures, which are not published by the company, backed up his claim and saluted a "fantastic job" by Royal Mail workers.

Leighton and chief executive Adam Crozier also saluted Royal Mail's financial performance -- a 10.6% revenue increase compared with the previous year -- for the four weeks to December 25.

The company recorded its biggest monthly revenue total, exceeding £800m. It attributed year-on-year revenue growth of 8% in its letters business partly to a surge in home shopping.

A record 223m Christmas cards were sent by businesses this year, according to Royal Mail research carried out exclusively for Marketing.

The Post Office's growing range of financial services, along with the European and Worldwide parcel divisions, also contributed to the overall sum.

Crozier said that the performance put the company on course to make a profit on day-to-day operations of more than £400m in the financial year to March 2005, which will allow it to achieve its plan of giving its people a "share in success" payment of at least £800.

But the biggest challenges lay ahead with the market opening to full competition in less than a year's time, Crozier said. "Improving quality of service must remain our number one priority."

However, a spokeswoman for Postwatch, the industry watchdog with whom Royal Mail has recently had less-than-friendly relations, said: "We hoped that Royal Mail would publish the Christmas quality of service figures, because customers want to know."

A Royal Mail spokesman said that the company publishes quarterly figures for quality of service and it was not its policy to break out the Christmas figures.

Postwatch angered Royal Mail by advising the public to use second class stamps instead of first class stamps for their Christmas post on the grounds they were better value for money. Royal Mail has subsequently expressed its misgivings concerning the level of Postwatch's expenditure.

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