Member Info for OliGarch

AS/TMS, I do believe that the stock market doesn't base it's algorithms on whether a company "lacks creativity, leadership or is unambitious". The big investment companies set the tone and us privateers merely ride their coat tails in hope.

"The share price tanks on an annual basis".... however it does rise again. Most of the time it's a gut feeling along with a vibe from within the business that motivates me to buy or sell. I don't follow charts however over the last decade I have been reasonably successful with RMG/IDS.

Why IDS? As I mentioned earlier, it's usually a vibe from within the business. I don't invest what I can't afford to lose and set a target to cash out and then sit back. When Baldy Dave gets agitated and the jungle drums start beating then I get interested again and it seems to coincide with the start of pay negotiations during autumn every two or three years.

AS/TMS "or do you like to watch your money drift downwards every 18 months haha?"

I didn't have you down as being dense, however, at the risk of being accused of offering financial advice I will let you into a secret. It is possible to buy low then sell higher and wait for the price to drop again before repeating the process and IDS appears to be a very good share for this type of activity......but don't tell anyone else......lol

Redceo, you old cynic..... careful with the comments though or you may get mistaken for a proper disalusioned CWU militant dinosaur deramper.......lol

AS/TMS, I'm confident that Seidenberg will do a fantastic job for the IDS investors going forward and looking forward to GLS pulling the SP up by it's boot straps.

I'm also confident that the CWU will kick off again within the next eighteen months to two years and the cycle will repeat although possibly not as dramatically which will give us all another little window of opportunity.....kerchinggggg.

AS/TMS, if you look at my post you will see that it's actually a positive one or at least it has been for me as I'm currently just over £10k up since my last couple of purchases which I posted about (in June 2023 I believe). I'm certainly not negative about IDS and if you look at the SP history and IR history it's actually forming a very nice pattern which I hope can be repeated many times. Kerching.....

So Thompson is apparently leaving the business next month? I sometimes wonder if his CEO contract was a two year deal and then move on? Either way, I think that Thompson has done IDS investors a huge favour over the last eighteen months as the SP was just over 500p and Thompson's bonus measure of "investor value" certainly worked. Si and Dave got it down to 178p and allowed us all another bite at the cherry which was a genius move.

Let's see if the new CEO can repeat the trick in a couple of years time. It's the gift that keeps on giving......

Newdealz, a blue day on either the price action or pill action is always a positive ;-)

Peaky, I was thinking that NDZ "squeeze with a rising wedgie" was probably not going to be a great look?.....lol

Newdealz, I suppose it's horses for courses on this? I use the rail network and bus network all the time and my local train station car park is currently free as it's not owned by Network Rail, plus it is fairly large and the train platform has an existing RM post box so would be ripe for PUDO lockers but I get your point. I would imagine that retail park car parks which tend to be free and have a generous land allocation or even business parks would be a good location?

An open question to all......

Getting back to the original topic (or at least one of the off-shoots), would it affect your future investment plans in IDS should RM decide to not introduce lockers?

"Now I'm told they are being dropped off at a local petrol station that has a shop attached. All because that chain off shops is open from 6am-10pm 7 days a week!"

Clearly Royal Mail management didn't believe that it was making enough profit from these contracts and made the decision to discourage these? The petrol stations and "open all hours" convenience stores are in a much better position to handle this type of contract although I'm quite surprised that Deliveroo didn't get the BG contract as they could have combined a boiler thermostat with an egg mcmuffin and a Costa coffee....ideal for your "on the go" British Gas engineer.....lol

AngerSharkz, my comment about lockers was actually based on what happens in other countries and as outlined by Derek's post.

"But some customers would prefer to have their item delivered to the door in the shortest possible times."

I think that you will find that it currently the majority of UK customers who would prefer to have their item delivered to the door in the shortest possible times? Sure, there will be a certain percentage who would prefer to have their mail delivered to the locker and location of their choice but I wouldn't have thought it would be anywhere near the majority.

I was just pandering to the "make as much dosh as possible, regardless of what the public want" theory really.

What about the idea of RM surcharging the recipient for doorstep delivery....lol.... kerching....

Here's one for ya AngerSharkz..... It's a bit radical but bear with please.....

What if RM cleared out every delivery office and populated it purely with lockers, thousands of them at every location? The posties could populate the lockers with parcels and the recipients could receive an email to collect. No need for an army of posties and vans polluting the atmosphere. Loadsamoney saved on staff costs, vehicle costs, fuel costs, utility bill costs.

Bingo, sounds like a winner to me.....

AngerSharkz, "You can walk into your local delivery office and access information regarding the companies business rates? "

When did I post that? You need to stop being angry and read my posts before going on a rant?

Having worked for the business for many years, I can tell you that the CSPs that I came across are located on and in existing RM premises such as delivery offices or mail centres. They are not separate buildings. Why would RM be paying an additional business charge for using a part of the existing building as a CSP? Perhaps you know something that I don't on this but I doubt that.

As an example, when the existing CSP in my local mail centre closes for good, the mail centre manager is looking to use the area to upgrade the current visitor reception area.

Your posting on this shows that you have obviously never been to a RM CSP which is why you don't have a clue as to what I'm posting.

"Is it going to cost Royal Mail more or less to keep open local delivery offices on an annual and daily basis?"

RM delivery offices are currently open for as long as they need to be. Some are very big, some are very small, some are in use 24/7 with a constant influx of staff, vehicles and mail. Some have sequence sorting machines and are in use overnight. My local delivery office is often used by area managers as a meeting point and hot desking point especially if they live in an are of poor WiFi reception and need IT to look at an issue on their laptop via the RM WiFi network. If RM are looking to compete with the likes of DPD, Evri and Amazon regarding the original plans to accept parcels later and deliver to households later (ala Thompson's original plan) then many delivery offices will need to be open for longer hours. This will mean an increase in utility bills and staff costs to man the building for security purposes.

I would suggest that you stop posting your usual vitriol and calm down. It adds nothing to this forum and just shows other posters what a complete bell end you really are.

TMS, "Because I don’t know much about ‘rooms inside buildings’ and how that affects a commercial buildings rateable value?"

Personally I wouldn't have admitted to being that clueless about something that I could have checked out at my local delivery office or mail centre (accessible to the general public) but fair play to clueless Dilberts.....lol

TMS, "So how many CSP’s are currently in operation in the UK? Open for a few hours of the day……so how much is that costing Royal Mail in business rates alone? "

A RM CSP is usually a room within an existing RM building so whether it exists or not it doesn't cost any more for business rates?

If you can’t see that significance of that then I can’t help you? Lol.

TMS, I was responding to your comment "Lol. So the 7-8 people working in those offices are working for free are they? The business rates on the building and costs associated with maintaining and operating in that building is free as well?" The point that I was making was that the business rates are paid for regardless of the opening hours, but I guess that you didn't get the irony of that? In fact I'm not sure why you made the comment in the first place?

Yes, I too noticed that AS/TMS simply has to have the last word...... which is what drives me to ensure that doesn't happen......lol. I have a daughter who is very similar (can start a fight in an empty room) however slightly less vitriolic and demeaning.

"The business rates on the building and costs associated with maintaining and operating in that building is free as well?"

Wouldn't the business rates be the same whether the building was used for 6 hours a day or 24 hours a day?

"The limited opening hours and constant queues of people waiting to collect their items means you have to WAIT to get your items." Well that's pretty obvious as the situation has become a self made bottle neck by design in order to achieve an objective, which is to prove that CSPs are causing queues so that the business can justify closing them down.

I find the decision to effectively shut down callers offices and customer service points quite bizarre. It's remarkable how many people want to use it the afternoon, however the public and local businesses just aren't getting the message that RM don't want their custom in this manner.

My local CSP is only open from 8am to midday and is now unable to sell postage to the customer. They might as well clear the room, make it secure and put lockers in as it's not really a CSP any more.