Member Info for Scampthedog

Just a comment regarding the share price: with the shorts increasing their positions over the last several weeks it mystifies me why some people are still buying the shares at the present price. If you are so concerned about your average "buy-in" price why not wait until the shorts decrease their positions? After all, they get to hear of any sort of news before we do...I believe the "nice" word for it is "leaks". Heavens above anyone should profit from any sort of insider dealing -- good lord!! Just a thought. :) You will all know in a couple of weeks which way this share price is heading over the next six months or so when, on its capital markets day, the Royal Mail expounds on its "Five Year Plan"...any positive news here may well start a sustainable, albeit slow, movement of the sp back upwards to the £3.00 level; personally, at this time, I think £2.30 - £2.40 is about right.

Anyone who works for the Royal Mail would not dispute the fact that the posties who work in the delivery sector work extremely hard; they have among their ranks many diligent and industrious people who not only have a strong work ethic but also take pride in the great service that they provide to the public at large...for who is more instantly recognizable in your local community than the "postie"? I also acknowledge that many selfless, kind, and, indeed, heroic acts, are being performed, and are continually performed, each and every working day by these "front-line" troops...they are a credit to the company. My beef, in the main, is with what I witness on the depot floor...there are many issues that need to be resolved here; as well as some universally all embracing ones that concern all Royal Mail employees. I am all for mutual respect and dignity...but the balance between union power and manager authority needs to be readdressed somewhat; so does the company's sick pay policy...absolutely unsustainable in this day and age. The general public are also unaware of just how big a part Angard (Royal Mails agency workers) play in processing the mail. That particular aspect of the business is now being met head on. In a nutshell: the more agency workers were brought in -- the more some posties stood back! Now, in an attempt to help drive costs down, the agency workers hours, that were available to them, are being cut more and more in an attempt to get some of the lazier posties to contribute more to productivity...and about time. And regarding automation: it is coming whether some of the posties on here like it or not...and it is coming in a big way. Rico Back is going to drag this company right back into the 21st Century -- with or without the unions consent!!

Oh...and by the way, WorldGoRound: when you and Mike1974 have finished munching down those innocuous looking mushrooms you gathered at first light this shivery morning then perhaps you can both come down from planet Zog and try and attempt to collaborate on a short statement explaining the way your befuddled minds work...if you can find whats left of your minds that is.

Er...? "Those people who are over 55 are the ones that caused and benefited the most from the days of strife and confrontation"? What in the name of seven dogs has that inexplicable retort got to do with this thread...or indeed the Royal Mail? Most of us over 55 are the poor b*st*rds that had to sit and watch it on the nine o clock news every night as the whole country descended into headlong chaos and almost slid into complete oblivion. And who was responsible for all this I might ask? Quite simply: a small bunch of extremely militant union leaders all with their own personal axe to grind fueled by their own foolish political agendas. Anyone over 55 is responsible for all that my f*tarse!!!!

That old chestnut again -- the big bad wolf management!! It may well have escaped your attention, Spacecake, but at the last count there were many, many, many more posties than managers! Yes, of course, there are a considerable amount of managers that could be disposed of as: surplus to requirement ;but there again...there are many lazy, indifferent posties that would'nt make a beans worth of difference to the daily operation of any depot. It is ably demonstrated on any and every shift of every working day: posties, on the floor, standing back and letting the "agency" take the brunt of the work whilst they themselves stand idling around moaning about how hard done by they are! If the general public at large was aware of the benefits (lots of overtime, toil, reverse toil, pension contributions by the company, a fantastic sick pay policy, my bundle (for example - a car on lease: free insurance, window screen replacement, road tax, breakdown recovery, servicing, tyres, etc, etc) then trust me the very next time they threaten a strike the average motorist will be considering anything but "honking for a postie"...far from it I would imagine. The union need to embrace the fact that this company is now a very different animal than it was before 2013...automation, a smaller more efficient work force, and more work out of some very indifferent people, whether they like it or not, is coming...and coming soon. And that is just a fact of like -- take it or leave it...it is all the same to me.

The problems with the Royal Mail can be encapsulated into three letters: CWU. People born in this country over the age of 55 can all remember the days of strife and confrontation in the seventies: miners strike, the short working week, your power being switched off, rubbish piling up in the streets...and: "share your bathwater with a friend" -- yuk!!! They never saw the extreme militancy of the CWU being demonstrated...because under the old system every time they threatened to strike -- they got what they wanted! There is so much that could be discussed about this subject that it could fill an average sized encyclopedia! Suffice to say: Moya Green had an opportunity...but she was more concerned about her whopping big golden handshake and self-perceived legacy to make any real meaning, substantial, concerted effort. Sadly, the Royal Mail executives, at the time, just did not have the stomach for the fight. The posties threatened to cripple the industry, in all truth all they would have done is streamlined the Royal Mail and redefined it by putting thousands of themselves out of work and leaving the most profitable parts behind. Well done Moya! A shining example of how to rise above it all, well above...about thirty thousand feet actually, -- and totally bottle it!!

There seems to be some people on this site with split personalities...why invest in a company whilst at the same time constantly talking it down and questioning your own reasons for investing in it in the first place? I can assure you all of one very important thing: the Royal Mail is undergoing lots of change right at this very moment. They do not intend to replace "Network 18"...just tweak it somewhat and improve upon it; one of the biggest changes can be summed up in the CEO's own words: "more accountability at senior management level". This, in all its rather "run of the mill" familiarity...as far as normal sounding cliches are concerned, is, for the Royal Mail, all rather profound. For the very first time senior managers (we are talking depot and district managers here...people who actually interact with the posties on the floor) are going to be forced to make real savings; and by that I mean not just come in at the end of the financial year under budget...but come up with new and novel ways of making big savings. The biggest problem with the Royal Mail is that posties and managers alike are indoctrinated into an old fashioned "civil-service-way" of thinking: people who are used to working for a quango type industry which they regard as a bottomless pit when it comes to providing for their living cannot just change overnight. But change for the Royal Mail is coming...and of that -- you can be absolutely certain!

I admire your insistence Mr Falklandinvestor...but I would, personally, have reserved my own opinion until after the Royal Mail unveils its "Five Year Plan" to the financial media at large on its up coming Capital Markets Day. Who knows...might even be some much welcomed and compelling news...might be. :)

Regarding a comment made earlier concerning Royal Mails new parcel hub at Omega in Warrington: yes, both Amazon and the Hut Group have units here...which is extremely handy because Royal Mail have contracts with the two of them; Amazon sends all its returns back to its Scottish depot every night via the Royal Mail Warrington Rail Terminal. Just another example of Warrington's perfect logistical position with its readily available access to the network of motorways and the London to Scottish rail line that runs right through the centre of it. The Royal Mail is going through a huge transitional period at this moment and there will be no quick gains here; don't expect a rapid return to the highs of twelve months ago...patience is required I feel.

Quite right...it is "old news" from last year. They intend to shut down the old "North West Distribution Centre" at Mill Lane and throw all their eggs into this new building at Omega. It is a huge concern with over sixty loading bays; they have, I am told, had a new parcel sorting machine installed and have at least five belts in place to deal with the expected big increase in tracked parcels. This proposed "consolidation" of much of their work, spread at present time over two existing sites (NWDC and Warrington Rail Terminal), into just one major site will undoubtedly help reduce running costs and increase all manner of efficiencies...hopefully. :) P.s The Royal Mail is not a formula one racing car, it is a huge, powerful tractor. ..but over the long haul, against all manner of terrain -- it is the tractor that will ultimately win the race!!

Royal Mail will soon (3 weeks) announce it has acquired the lease on a 346000sq ft building at Omega Park in Warrington...it will go fully operational in October of this year. They intend this to be their new parcel hub centre in the North West. Quote: "The new site will enable us to meet the growing demand for next day delivery of online shopping". It will be interesting to see what the share price does come the Royal Mails capital markets day?