The latest Investing Matters Podcast episode featuring financial educator and author Jared Dillian has been released. Listen here.
Newdealz, I would like to think that a four day week would be welcomed by the majority of the workforce, however, those of us who are of a certain age will remember being told by our teachers/schools in the 1960s that computers would take over the mundane tasks leaving us to work three days a week and allowing us more leisure time. Despite Microsoft's world dominance in the 1980s and 1990s, this prophecy never materialised for the vast majority of the workforce.
Newdealz, why a four day USO? What's wrong with three (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) which would also put paid to expensive first class letters and pave the way for an 8am to 8pm parcel service, seven days a week.......or is that just too radical for a unionised worker who allegedly wants the SP to drop through the floor?
"Sunak has shown how bits of paper can be torn up overnight just today".
Yes, bits of paper that he and his predecessors originally wrote and signed up to in ord to appease the green agenda. Of course he has done a U-turn because he knows that without doing so would mean definitely losing the next general election. Unfortunately, if he wins the next general election it will be expected to stick with today's speech however "bit's of paper can be torn up" so perhaps another U-turn? That's why it's called politics.
TMS, "If" Parliament announced tomorrow morning that the USO was changing to five days then I would expect an initial rise in the SP and again when the changes come into effect and the financial results reflect the changes. Simple enough?
Believe it or not, I actually would like to see the SP increase despite what a few posters on here think. A tenner a pop would do nicely if you could see your way clear to making that happen.....lol
Darbo, the coalition Cameron/Cable government sold RMG primarily because Moya Greene argued that RMG needed to be able to sort it's own funding out without having to go cap in hand to the UK Government whenever it wanted to take out a loan or make a big financial decision, plus the fact that the Government didn't want to have to intervene and deal with the CWU whenever there was a dispute.
I don't think that the current mob in charge actually give a toss about IDS shareholders any more than they give a toss about IDS himself.....lol
At the end of the day, you do your research, takes your choices and pays your money. Yours was a gamble and it might still pay off? Remember, you've lost nowt until you hit the "sell" button.....
TMS, let's get this straight.
The USO is protected by an Act of Parliament and changes can only be made via Parliament which means that the due process has to be followed. Invariably this will be a long drawn out affair.
The Regulator, OFCOM, and Royal Mail will have some input into the debates and will also follow the due process as will MPs on behalf of their constituents.
I don't believe that I have alluded to anything different to the above, however those who think that changes are going to happen quickly then, in my opinion, they are deluded.
Whether you or I believe that OFCOM are fit for purpose is neither here nor there. It is what it is?
We have been debating the USO on this forum for well over a year now and when I originally posted that any changes would need to go through Parliament and should change(s) be sanctioned then it would be a painfully slow process, I was derided by some posters on here that seemed to have their fingers on the pulse of the rules and regulations......lol
Maximas even suggested that Kretinsky would force changes through in double quick time if necessary!
I'm not saying that the current USO conditions are correct for the here and now, however I did warn of the pitfalls for the UK operation in getting permission to make changes.
Darbo, Vince Cable sold RMG on the cheap at 330p in 2013. It was a perfectly viable business and with the correct management and guidance can be a good operation. I'm really not sure what your issue is? The SP is currently cheap in my opinion. What would you like to see happen in the future?
Newdealz, I would say that this is the beginning of a price war?
EVRI '0-1kg Parcel' is reduced from £2.87 to £2.00 (RM up to 2Kg is currently £3.49 for 2nd class and £4.19 for 1st class)
Yodel '1-2kg Parcel' is reduced from £3.71 to £2.60
All DPD services reduced to £4.15
RM up to 2Kg is currently £3.49 for 2nd class and £4.19 for 1st class for a small parcel and £5.49/£6.29 for a medium parcel. That's a big difference so RM are possibly going to have to reduce prices in order to compete with the competition and if Evri reintroduce their pricing policy for the six weeks leading up to Christmas it could get very interesting for the UK operation figures?
I don't know if competition regulations on pricing still apply to RM and how low RM could go in order to blow the competition out of the water without the competition having a whinge?
Thank you JB.
One thing that made me chuckle was
Air
Our air network services operated to schedule over the last 24-hours.
I thought that moving mail by air was an absolute no-no as it is no longer considered "green"?
You're gotta laugh..... lol
Continued......
Craig Mackinlay, head of the Net Zero Scrutiny Group of Tory MPs, said the incoming green surcharge was “yet another” cost of net zero, adding: “At the end of the day, consumers pay the price of all of this because consumers are at the end of every supply chain.”
A Royal Mail spokesman said the surcharges would only affect business account customers, adding its “green surcharge” helped make it “the greenest carrier in the market”.
She added: “Christmas is our busiest time of year – every year we take on thousands of additional staff and vehicles and increase capacity.
“This all comes at a cost to our business, at a time when we have reported a £419m loss at our most recent full-year results. Other parcel couriers already apply a similar surcharge during the Christmas period.”
The Telegraph article script for those who are unable to open the link....
Royal Mail is increasing the cost of posting letters and parcels for businesses over Christmas and imposing a net zero “green surcharge”.
In a move that risks increasing costs for shoppers, business account customers will be asked for an additional 5p or 10p “peak surcharge” for deliveries between November and January, on top of a 2p “green surcharge” to help fund
“decarbonisation measures”.
Consumers paying for deliveries will ultimately bear the extra costs, with the charges risking an increase in inflation, businesses and MPs warned.
It comes as Royal Mail grapples with slumping profits and follows a number of increases in the price of stamps.
The 507-year-old business was beset with delays in the run-up to Christmas last year, failing to deliver almost half of first-class post on time – thought to be the worst performance in the firm’s history.
It has been forced to contend with repeated strikes in a long-running dispute with the Communication Workers Union over pay and changes to working conditions. It made an operating loss of £419 million last year.
It is also pushing to cut costs by stopping deliveries on Saturdays.
Martin McTague, the national chair of the Federation of Small Businesses, a trade body, said the higher costs “will inevitably lead to higher prices” for consumers.
He said: “Christmas is a crucial season for UK small businesses, and after last year’s strikes they were looking forward to a disruption-free festive period. For many, today’s news will be a gift they would rather not unwrap.
“Extra costs will inevitably lead to higher prices for their goods to stay economically viable, which will in turn drive up inflation at a time when we should be trying everything to bring it back down to the 2pc Bank of England target.”
The “green surcharge” is set to come into force on Nov 6 and run indefinitely, while the peak surcharge will be introduced on Nov 20 and apply until Jan 7 2024.
It will apply to the 24- and 48-hour postal deliveries of “account customers”, while the peak surcharge applies to large letters and parcels sent by 24- and 48-hour delivery.
The increase will come shortly after a rise in the cost of first-class stamps, which are due to jump in price by 15p to £1.25 from October 2 – the second increase this year. It will mean a book of eight stamps will cost £10 for the first time.
The increase means the cost of stamps has doubled since Royal Mail was privatised in 2013.
It also comes on top of an additional £1.10 surcharge now applied to old-style stamps that do not have new barcodes.
Tory MP Greg Smith said that the cost of posting anything had become “mind-bogglingly expensive.”
He added: “Royal Mail needs to focus on getting the basics right at a price people can afford, or they are just digging themselve
Newdealz, "Stretched staff and hard work, the perfect recipe for dividend reinstatement!"
I was thinking more in terms of "not enough staff and service delivery failures, the perfect recipe for another OFCOM fine"..... which would potentially put the kibosh on a prospective dividend payment?
Newdealz, "Just thought it worth mentioning, in the last month ive had lots of my sending orders arriving late, must be busy back at the DO, they all get there just a bit sloooooooooower, that says to me we should be in for a bumper quarter, £3+ by xmas imo".
I don't know if it's a local or national issue but my local DO and postie are having trouble keeping up, not because of the volume of mail but because of the current lack of staff. The ones that are still working are now doing alternate days over two rounds. Perhaps my prophecy of a three day USO is coming to fruition.....lol