You may have seen the half year results announcement yesterday by our parent company, International Distribution Services, within which there is some content that you and your customers will have a particular interest in.

Industrial Action by CWU members

On 7 November 2022, we entered intensive talks with the CWU to reach an agreement on the current pay and change dispute. The talks, which had been scheduled to conclude on 15 November, are continuing to allow more time for a resolution to be reached. But time is tight given the notified strikes starting on 24 and 25 November. You will have also seen the latest notification from CWU, and their planned industrial action on 30 November and 1 December.  Negotiations continue to take place and we will continue to update you regarding matters such as acceptance of mail on strike days.

Review of Mail Centre footprint

As part of the wider drive for efficiency, we have announced a review of our Mail Centre estate. Again, we will keep you up to speed on when and how this will impact upstream networks and mail sortation requirements as and when such detail is available.

Reform of the Universal Service

This topic has been discussed with you for some time, and we held workshops with some of our customers earlier this year to seek feedback on reform of the Universal Service. We have been exploring a range of options and yesterday’s announcement that we have approached Government to seek an early move to five-day letter delivery was not one we took lightly. We recognise the impact a potential move to five days could have on you. Clearly you will be wanting clarity on what ‘an early move’ looks like, and we will ensure that you are kept up to speed as things progress.

If you have any specific questions on yesterday’s announcement please do let your Account Director know, and we will endeavour to provide full and timely updates.