Royal Mail

Royal Mail is the national postal service of the United Kingdom. Historically, the Royal Mail was a government department, but it became The Post Office, a state owned business in 1969, and a Government Owned Public Limited Company in 2000. The initial name being registered with Companies House being Consignia plc.

This new name, in part, was aimed at ending the confusion that had existed between the the terms 'The Post Office' (the whole organisation) and Post Offices (the customer accessible counters). The new name was unpopular with the employees, the unions and the public; and Consignia plc became Royal Mail Group plc in 2002.

Unlike other former state monopolies such as The Stationery Office, British Gas and British Telecom, Royal Mail was not privatised in the 1980s and 1990s, but remains a public limited company wholly owned by the UK government. This was largely due to the successful campaigning of the Communication Workers Union on behalf of its postal members.

A wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Mail is Post Office Limited, which operates the national network of post offices. As the activities of Royal Mail have been reduced, so the network of post offices has contracted, much to the consternation of local communities, which rely on their services.

Royal Mail remains responsible for the universal mail collection and delivery service in the UK. Letters are deposited in a pillar or wall box, taken to a post office, or (by arrangement) collected in bulk from businesses. Deliveries are made once every day (except Sundays and Bank Holidays) at uniform charges for all destinations within the UK.

According to its annual report for the year ended 26 March 2006, Royal Mail delivers 84 million items every working day and has a network of 14,376 post offices. Revenue for the year was £9.056 billion, and profits before tax were £312 million.

History

See also: General Post Office.

The Royal Mail traces its history back to 1516, when Henry VIII established a "Master of the Posts". The Royal Mail service was first made available to the public by Charles I on July 31 1635, with postage being paid by the recipient, and the General Post Office (GPO) was officially established by Charles II in 1660.

Between 1719 and 1763, Ralph Allen, Postmaster at Bath, signed a series of contracts with the post office to develop and expand Britain's postal network. He organised mail coaches which were provided by both Wilson & Company of London and Williams & Company of Bath. The early Royal Mail Coaches were similar to ordinary family coaches but with Post Office livery.^[1]

Uniform penny postage

Main article: Uniform Penny Post

In 1840 the mail underwent substantial reforms and the uniform penny post was introduced. A single rate for delivery anywhere in the UK was paid by the sender. To certify that postage had been paid on a letter, the sender would affix the first adhesive stamp, the Penny Black.

1960 to present

In 1969 the GPO was changed from a government department to a state-owned company, and the position of Postmaster General was abolished.

In 2000, The Post Office renamed itself "'Consignia'". However, the change proved to be highly unpopular with both the public and even the organisation's own employees, with the Communication Workers' Union boycotting the name. In 2002, the organisation reverted to the name "Royal Mail Group plc" with the following operating divisions:

• Royal Mail, delivering letters
• Parcelforce, delivering parcels
• Post Office Limited, managing the nationwide network of post office branches as retail outlets.

In 2001 the government set up a postal regulator, Postcomm, and offered licences to private companies to deliver mail. In 2001, the Consumer Council for Postal Services, more commonly known as Postwatch, was created for consumers to express any concerns they may have with the postal service in the UK.

From January 1, 2006, the Royal Mail lost its 350-year monopoly and the UK postal market became fully open to competition.

Timeline

• 1516: Royal Mail established by Henry VIII under Master of the Posts.
• 1635: Royal Mail service first made available to the public by Charles I.
• 1654: Oliver Cromwell grants monopoly over service in England to "Office of Postage".
• 1657: Fixed postal rates introduced.
• 1660: General Post Office (GPO) officially established by Charles II.
• 1661: First use of date stamp. First Postmaster General appointed.
• 1784: First mail coach (between Bristol and London).
• 1793: First uniformed delivery staff. Post Office Investigation Branch formed, the oldest recognised criminal investigations authority in the world.
• 1830: First mail train (on Liverpool and Manchester Railway).
• 1840: First adhesive stamp (the Penny Black).
• 1853: First post boxes erected in mainland Britain.
• 1870: Post Office begins telegraph service.
• 1880: First use of bicycles to deliver mail.
• 1881: Postal order introduced.
• 1883: Parcel post begins.
• 1894: First picture postcards.
• 1912: Post Office opens national telephone service.
• 1919: First international air mail service.
• 1968: Two-class postal system introduced. National Giro bank opens.
• 1969: General Post Office changes from government department to nationalised industry.
• 1974: Postcodes extended over all UK.
• 1981: Telecommunications services split out as British Telecom. Remainder renamed as "Post Office".
• 1986: Separated businesses of delivering letters, delivering parcels and operating post offices.
• 1990: Girobank sold to the Alliance & Leicester Building Society.
• 1990: Royal Mail Parcels re-branded as Parcelforce.
• 2004: Reduction of deliveries to once daily. Travelling post office ("Mail Trains") end. SmartStamp is introduced.
• 2005: Mail Trains re-introduced on some lines.
• 2006: Royal Mail loses its monopoly when the regulator, PostComm, opens up the Postal Market 3 years ahead of the rest of Europe.^[2] Also introduces Pricing in Proportion (PiP) for first and second class inland mail.
• 2006: Online postage allows Royal Mail customers to pay for postage on the web, without the need to buy traditional stamps.

Non-postal services

Royal Mail introduced telegraph services in 1870 and telephone services in 1912. It remained responsible for the UK's telephone network until British Telecommunications was demerged by the British Telecommunications Act 1981. BT was later privatised.

The National Giro Bank was introduced in 1968, and sold to Alliance & Leicester in 1990.

Historically, many government benefits and state retirement pensions were paid in cash through the post office network. However, in recent years, an increasing proportion of benefit and pension payments have been made directly by bank transfer, leading to a loss of revenue for Post Office branches and many closures.

Public interest

The Royal Mail is regulated by Postcomm however consumer interests are represented by Postwatch. The relationship between the two has not always been good and in 2005 Postwatch took Postcomm to Judicial Review over its decision regarding rebates to late paying customers.

The Government department responsible for the Royal Mail is the Department of Trade and Industry, however the public financial interest is managed by the Shareholder executive

Although now a private company, the Royal Mail enjoys special protection under Government legislation which severely limits consumer rights. Under the Postal Services Act 2000, the Royal Mail is under no contractual obligation to deliver most mail, including special delivery items. In addition, no court action can be taken against the Royal Mail more than 12 months after an item is posted.

Fleet

In addition to running a large number of road vehicles, Royal Mail uses Mail Trains, a Ship and an aircraft, with an air hub at East Midlands Airport.

The following aircraft are included in the dedicated fleet:

• 1x Boeing 737-3Y0 [1] G-ZAPV operated by Titan Airways

The RMS St. Helena is a cargo and passenger ship that serves the British overseas territory of Saint Helena. It sails between Cape Town and Saint Helena, occasionally visiting the dependencies of Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha. It also visits Portland, in Dorset, England two times a year. It is one of the last remaining ocean-going ships to carry the designation Royal Mail Ship.

Business services

The Royal Mail runs, alongside its stamped mail services, another sector of post called business mail. The large majority of Royal Mail's business mail service is for PPI or franked mail, where the sender prints their own 'stamp'. For PPI mail this involves either a simple rubber stamp and an ink pad, or a printed label. For franked mail, a dedicated franking machine [2] is used.

Trivia

• Contrary to urban myth, Royal Mail does not own the trademark on the colour red, but a specific shade of the colour red: "Royal Mail, the Royal Mail Cruciform, the colour red and SmartStamp are all registered trademarks of Royal Mail Group plc."^[3]
• Stamps issued by the Royal Mail are the only stamps that don't bear the name of the country of issue on them.

See also

• Guernsey Post
• Isle of Man Post
• Jersey Post
• General Post Office (United Kingdom)
• Consignia
• Post Office - UK
• Royal Mail Ship
• United States Postal Service - U.S. equivalent (in structure and operations) to the Royal Mail

References

• BBC report on loss of monopoly

Wikipedia information about Royal Mail This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Royal Mail". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.