Courier September 2012 - myroyalmail
Courier September 2012 - myroyalmail
Courier September 2012 - myroyalmail
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For daily news, visit<br />
<strong>myroyalmail</strong>.com<br />
January <strong>2012</strong> 1<br />
.com<br />
the royal mail newsPAPER<br />
<strong>September</strong> <strong>2012</strong><br />
Avoid<br />
tax!<br />
x =<br />
Grow a<br />
mo<br />
(legally)<br />
Our guide to payroll giving on page 15<br />
To help you<br />
drum up support,<br />
we’ve included a<br />
sponsorship form<br />
inside this issue of<br />
<strong>Courier</strong><br />
by Mark Glover<br />
Support Prostate<br />
Cancer UK by getting involved<br />
in this year’s Movember campaign.<br />
The annual global facial fundraiser encourages<br />
men to grow a moustache throughout November to raise<br />
awareness of the disease and cash to fight it.<br />
Every penny you raise will be matched by the company,<br />
with all the money going to our Charity of the Year –<br />
Prostate Cancer UK – which is supported by the<br />
Movember charity in the UK.<br />
To ensure the money Royal<br />
Mail staff raise is matched penny for<br />
penny, YOU MUST REGISTER via our<br />
employee website at www.<strong>myroyalmail</strong>.com.<br />
Simply click on the Movember panel and enter<br />
your details. You’ll then be redirected to<br />
the Movember website for lots more useful<br />
information and advice on growing a tash and<br />
raising loads of cash.<br />
and raise<br />
some dough!<br />
Plenty more fun for men<br />
AND WOMEN – page 15
2 <strong>September</strong> <strong>2012</strong> email courier@abcomm.co.uk<br />
For daily news, visit <strong>myroyalmail</strong>.com Watch weekly<br />
Follow us on @RM_COURIER <strong>September</strong> <strong>2012</strong> 3<br />
Moya<br />
Greene<br />
We did an<br />
impressive job<br />
continuing to<br />
deliver in places<br />
where the Games<br />
had such a big<br />
impact. Thank you<br />
for all your<br />
efforts.<br />
My View<br />
Medal-winning<br />
MOYA ON DELIVERING…<br />
FOR OUR PEOPLE<br />
Dog attacks on postmen and<br />
women are coming down. But the<br />
number is still unacceptably high.<br />
We will do all we can to minimise the<br />
risk to our people from dangerous<br />
dogs. The independent inquiry set<br />
up by our chairman Donald Brydon<br />
will come up with recommendations<br />
to address the issue further. Judge<br />
Langley has been visiting offices and<br />
talking to our people to get your<br />
views, more on page 13.<br />
Share your favourite stamps story from<br />
London <strong>2012</strong> – courier@abcomm.co.uk<br />
guest EDITORS’ CoLUMN<br />
Phil Kybert, postman, Bournemouth (torch bearer), Maura<br />
Campbell, network and distribution manager, Croydon<br />
(Games Maker), James Lawless and Simon McGee,<br />
postmen, involved in planning in London<br />
t<br />
London <strong>2012</strong>: stories of our stamps<br />
Stamp of approval<br />
Our gold medal stamps and<br />
gold postboxes for Team GB<br />
and ParalympicsGB athletes<br />
proved popular with you<br />
lot, as well as helping to<br />
promote our involvement in<br />
Olympic<br />
Gold<br />
medal<br />
stamps<br />
29 34<br />
59<br />
Gold<br />
London <strong>2012</strong>. 43<br />
Olympic<br />
postboxes<br />
3<br />
Paralympic<br />
Gold<br />
medal<br />
stamps<br />
Paralympic<br />
Gold<br />
postboxes<br />
performance<br />
Team Royal Mail deserves a gold<br />
medal for our fantastic performance<br />
during the London <strong>2012</strong> Olympic and<br />
Paralympic Games.<br />
Keeping the stamp presses rolling<br />
and painting our boxes gold involved a<br />
monumental effort across our business, with<br />
teams working around the clock. Thank you<br />
also to the Romec engineers who did a great<br />
job turning our postboxes gold.<br />
It was great to see many of our colleagues<br />
(pictured) who put in such an amazing effort<br />
take part in the victory parade in London –<br />
showing off our magnificent stamps.<br />
We did an impressive job continuing to<br />
deliver in places where the Games had such<br />
a big impact. Thank you for all your efforts.<br />
What’s your favourite stamps story from<br />
London <strong>2012</strong>? I’d love to know, and see them<br />
appear in <strong>Courier</strong>. Email courier@abcomm.<br />
co.uk with ‘stories of our stamps’ in the subject box.<br />
Christmas planning<br />
Our attention now turns to Christmas.<br />
Months of planning go in to ensuring we are<br />
in the best possible shape to deliver the nation’s<br />
huge festive mailbag.<br />
This Christmas is one of the most important<br />
ever for us as the number of parcels<br />
we handle keeps growing. It’s vital that we<br />
deliver a high-quality experience for all our<br />
customers this Christmas.<br />
It matters not just to them, but to all of us.<br />
Our future as a business and major employer<br />
depends on keeping and winning new business.<br />
MEET THE TEAMgot a<br />
Editor-in-chief: Mark Glover<br />
Email: mark.glover@royalmail.com<br />
AB editor: Lisa Mobley<br />
Email: courier@abcomm.co.uk<br />
On parade… more than 40 colleagues joined the ‘Our Greatest Team’ parade to show off our gold medal stamps<br />
Looking ahead<br />
We will soon be halfway through the financial<br />
year. We will publish our interim results<br />
later this year in the usual way, but I can tell<br />
you our position continues to improve. We<br />
are beginning to see the benefits of April’s<br />
stamp price rises, though it is too early to<br />
know the full effect.<br />
It’s also almost six months since new rules<br />
regulating how we operate came into effect.<br />
So, it’s a good time to think about where we<br />
are on regulation.<br />
story?<br />
contact<br />
us<br />
Deputy editor: Jo Gurman<br />
Contact the<br />
<strong>Courier</strong> team<br />
at AB<br />
Publishing on<br />
020 7922<br />
5670<br />
Address: <strong>Courier</strong><br />
24-26 Great<br />
Suffolk Street,<br />
London<br />
SE1 0UE<br />
I’m pleased that Ofcom gave us new commercial<br />
freedom, but we’re not quite where we<br />
need to be. There are still a number of key issues<br />
that stop us competing on a level playing field.<br />
For example, other companies cherry<br />
pick the most profitable urban areas. And<br />
we still have to give one month’s notice<br />
of any changes to terms and conditions or<br />
prices of products, even where there is overwhelming<br />
customer support.<br />
These are areas that are very important<br />
for the business.<br />
win!<br />
Win David Lloyd Health club<br />
memberships – see page 20<br />
FOR OUR CUSTOMERS<br />
We are vital for many businesses.<br />
Big and small, they rely on us to<br />
reach their customers, whether it’s<br />
advertising their products and<br />
services or collecting and delivering<br />
their goods. One such firm is<br />
Goodnesse, featured on page 17.<br />
Thanks to the eagle eye of their<br />
postman Martin Coote (pictured<br />
below), we are meeting all their<br />
needs. We all have a part to play in<br />
spotting opportunities and building a<br />
commercial future for our business.<br />
IN THE COMMUNITY<br />
We want Movember to be one of<br />
the biggest fundraisers in Royal<br />
Mail’s history. Work is well under<br />
way to support those of you who<br />
want to take part in this annual<br />
global event. More details are on the<br />
front and page 15. The company will<br />
match every penny you raise to<br />
support our Charity of the Year,<br />
Prostate Cancer UK.<br />
get in touch with moya<br />
Moya is keen to hear from you<br />
through the Just Say It channel.<br />
Moya will reply to all who take<br />
part. To get in touch, email<br />
Justsayit@royalmail.com or write<br />
to Just Say It, Freepost<br />
Advertising<br />
If you are a business looking to<br />
advertise in <strong>Courier</strong>, please call<br />
020 7441 4769 to discuss<br />
suitability, availability and rates.<br />
Distribution<br />
To notify HR of a change of<br />
address, employees should email<br />
HRSC.Personal.Data@royalmail.<br />
com or write to The HR Service<br />
Centre, Pond Street, Sheffield<br />
S98 6HR.<br />
Pensioners should write to<br />
Pensions Services Centre, PO<br />
Box 500, Chesterfield S49 1WX.<br />
If <strong>Courier</strong> designer<br />
Amie went headto-head<br />
with Lord<br />
Coe in a pub quiz<br />
about gold medal<br />
athletes, I think<br />
she’d win hands<br />
down!<br />
ALL FOUR of us had an insightful day with<br />
the <strong>Courier</strong> team preparing this issue of the<br />
paper, focusing on Royal Mail’s contribution<br />
to London <strong>2012</strong>, for print.<br />
We’ve all been involved in the Games<br />
in some way, so we were keen to see how<br />
<strong>Courier</strong> would cover it.<br />
There is so much Olympics and<br />
Paralympics coverage that it’s difficult to<br />
point you to that one ‘must-read’ item,<br />
although what caught my eye the most (Phil)<br />
was the section on page 7 about how the gold<br />
medal stamps were made and the wonderful<br />
turnaround time for their completion. We may<br />
deliver post with stamps on, but do we stop<br />
to think about the planning behind them?<br />
The article that stood out for me (Maura)<br />
was around the success of the ticket<br />
deliveries (page 8). This was something most<br />
staff were involved with, whether they were<br />
working in mail or distribution centres, or<br />
directly delivering to individual customers –<br />
everyone could see how they helped make it<br />
happen.<br />
The timeline of events set around a track<br />
and field stadium was a page I (James)<br />
recommend you take a<br />
look at for its impressive<br />
design.<br />
As the Olympics and<br />
Paralympics are now over<br />
for us, this issue provides<br />
an excellent overview of<br />
key events.<br />
The designer, Amie, who<br />
showed me (Simon) how<br />
she goes about creating the<br />
pages also explained how<br />
much research goes into the<br />
design, especially the gold<br />
postboxes map. If Amie went<br />
head-to-head with Lord Coe<br />
in a pub quiz about gold medal athletes, I<br />
think she’d win hands down. Sorry Seb!<br />
And don’t forget the gold stamp wallchart<br />
with this month’s edition. Enjoy!<br />
Fancy filling the guest editor’s chair?<br />
Email courier@abcomm.co.uk or call 020 7922 5670<br />
Murray magic… John Elliott with Andy<br />
Murray’s stamp and gold postbox in Dunblane<br />
First Paralympic gold... John Arden and Steve<br />
Dawson with Sarah Storey’s stamp and box in Disley<br />
Great Scott… Kenny McKay<br />
in Peebles with showjumper<br />
Scott Brash’s postbox<br />
and stamp<br />
Lucky staff won<br />
a competition to<br />
carry the stamps<br />
on the ‘Our<br />
Greatest Team’<br />
victory parade<br />
through London.<br />
More pictures and<br />
stories at www.<br />
<strong>myroyalmail</strong>.com<br />
Second helping…<br />
Bruce Young with Sir Chris Hoy’s<br />
second stamp and box in Edinburgh<br />
Keeping up with<br />
the Joneses…<br />
Steve Thomas<br />
is in Flint for<br />
Taekwondo<br />
champ Jade Jones<br />
Parade of<br />
champions<br />
Wojciech Trafidlo<br />
from Cardiff with<br />
Paralympic swimmer<br />
Jonathan Fox and<br />
his stamp<br />
Canoe believe it… Glen Cooper<br />
in Westhill with the stamp and postbox<br />
in honour of slalom champion Tim Baillie<br />
What’s your<br />
favourite stamps<br />
moment?<br />
Email us!<br />
First past the post… Graham<br />
Clarihew in Lossiemouth with the first<br />
stamp and box for rower Heather Stanning<br />
Splash of colour... Mark<br />
Richards, Steve Vincent<br />
from Romec and Evan Davies with Ellie<br />
Simmonds’ stamps and box in Swansea<br />
Ashleigh Elmes from Plymouth with double<br />
Olympic champion Mo Farah and one of his stamps
PAinting the uk gold<br />
Surely they’ve got to be among the stars of<br />
London <strong>2012</strong> - our gold postboxes! Kids, dogs, all<br />
the family, even the athletes themselves couldn’t<br />
wait to get a pic with their special box<br />
King is queen... proud parents of track<br />
cycling medallist Dani King, Hamble<br />
1<br />
Pleased as punch... boxer Anthony Joshua,<br />
and postman Roo Rawal, Watford<br />
72<br />
77<br />
6<br />
5 12<br />
64<br />
Sister act... Emma Trott, sister of track<br />
cycling double gold medallist Laura Trott,<br />
and canine companion, Cheshunt<br />
37<br />
9 51<br />
38<br />
Paws for a picture... Richard Brown with daughter<br />
Samantha and pooches Roxy and Ruby<br />
at Ellie Simmonds’ postbox, Swansea<br />
Seeing double... boxer Nicola Adams<br />
with her postboxes, Leeds<br />
16<br />
23<br />
54<br />
19<br />
88<br />
101<br />
63 97<br />
3 4<br />
45 10<br />
89<br />
92<br />
60<br />
68 65 76<br />
95 11<br />
81<br />
96<br />
26<br />
46<br />
53<br />
14<br />
32<br />
93<br />
66<br />
Mane attraction... our postbox proves<br />
popular with staff (and dogs) from the<br />
stables used by team dressage champion<br />
Laura Bechtolsheimer,<br />
Ampney St Peter<br />
83<br />
57<br />
Brush with fame... the<br />
mayor and mayoress help<br />
paint double dressage<br />
champion Charlotte<br />
Dujardin’s postbox, Newent<br />
13<br />
87<br />
69<br />
39<br />
7<br />
18<br />
99<br />
31<br />
44<br />
Ace result... Andy Murray with his postbox, Dunblane<br />
78<br />
73<br />
33<br />
30 50<br />
100<br />
42<br />
58<br />
49<br />
86<br />
75<br />
62<br />
15<br />
52<br />
21<br />
24<br />
44<br />
74<br />
59<br />
90<br />
70<br />
34 20<br />
22<br />
80 52<br />
67<br />
56<br />
38 25<br />
28 79 29<br />
84 91<br />
Field of dreams... family of<br />
Paralympic discus champ<br />
Aled Davies, Bridgend<br />
82 8 48<br />
20<br />
43<br />
27<br />
41<br />
A giant-size<br />
pat on the back to the Romec<br />
engineers who worked round the<br />
clock to paint the special boxes.<br />
(We resisted the temptation to<br />
paint our foam hand<br />
gold!)<br />
2<br />
35<br />
61<br />
Velodrome victor... Peter Kennaugh, track<br />
cycling gold medallist, Onchan, Isle of Man<br />
We set up a dedicated website at www.goldpostboxes.com<br />
so people could find their nearest gold postbox<br />
36<br />
47<br />
94<br />
Send us a snap of you with one of our<br />
gold postboxes and you could win a prize!<br />
Send them to courier@abcomm.co.uk or<br />
Gold pictures, 24-26 Great Suffolk Street,<br />
London SE1 0UE and the best pictures<br />
will win a £25 One4All gift card.<br />
win!<br />
Riding high... equestrian legend Nick<br />
Skelton, mayor Lennox Cumberpatch<br />
and the local town crier with<br />
Nick’s gold postbox, Bedworth<br />
cartoon corner<br />
‘Can’t you see I’ve got a job to do?!’<br />
Postie sees red over gold box<br />
1 & 2. Heather Stanning & Helen Glover<br />
Rowing: Women’s Pairs<br />
Lossiemouth, Penzance<br />
3 & 4. Bradley Wiggins<br />
Cycling: Road Men’s Time Trial<br />
Chorley & Eccleston<br />
5, 6 & 7. Tim Baillie & Etienne Stott<br />
Canoe Slalom: Men’s Canoe Double (C2)<br />
Aberdeen, Aberdeen & Bedford<br />
8. Peter Wilson<br />
Shooting: Shotgun Men’s Double Trap<br />
Sherborne<br />
9, 10 & 11. Sir Chris Hoy, Jason Kenny &<br />
Philip Hindes<br />
Cycling: Track Men’s Team Sprint<br />
Edinburgh, Bolton: Churchgate, Manchester<br />
12 & 13. Katherine Grainger & Anna Watkins<br />
Rowing: Women’s Double Sculls<br />
Aberdeen, Leek<br />
14, 15, 16 & 17. Ed Clancy, Geraint Thomas,<br />
Peter Kennaugh & Steven Burke<br />
Cycling: Track Men’s Team Pursuit<br />
Huddersfield, Cardiff, Isle of Man, Colne<br />
18. Victoria Pendleton<br />
Cycling: Track Women’s Keirin<br />
Stotfold<br />
19, 20, 21, 22, 23 & 24. Andrew Triggs<br />
Hodge, Pete Reed, Tom James & Alex Gregory<br />
Rowing: Men’s Fours<br />
Hebden, Stroud, Nailsworth, Chiswick,<br />
Wrexham, Cheltenham<br />
25 & 26. Sophie Hosking & Katherine<br />
Copeland<br />
Rowing: Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls<br />
Wimbledon, Stockton-on-Tees<br />
27, 28, 29, 30 & 31. Dani King, Joanna<br />
Rowsell & Laura Trott<br />
Cycling: Track Women’s Team Pursuit<br />
Hamble, Carshalton, Cheam, Cheshunt,<br />
Harlow<br />
32. Jessica Ennis<br />
Athletics: Combined Women’s Heptathlon<br />
Sheffield<br />
33. Greg Rutherford<br />
Athletics: Field Men’s Long Jump<br />
Milton Keynes<br />
34. Mo Farah<br />
Athletics: Track Men’s 10,000m<br />
Isleworth<br />
35 & 36. Ben Ainslie<br />
Sailing: Finn Men’s Heavyweight Dinghy<br />
Restronguet, Lymington<br />
37 & 38. Andy Murray<br />
Tennis: Men’s Singles<br />
Dunblane, Wimbledon<br />
39, 40, 41, 42, 43 & 44. Nick Skelton, Scott<br />
Brash, Peter Charles & Ben Maher<br />
Equestrian: Jumping Team<br />
Alcester, Bedworth, Peebles, Alton,<br />
Bentworth, Elsenham<br />
45. Jason Kenny<br />
Cycling: Track Men’s Sprint<br />
Bolton: Deansgate<br />
46. Alistair Brownlee<br />
Triathlon<br />
Horsforth<br />
47, 48 & 49. Carl Hester, Laura<br />
Bechtolsheimer & Charlotte Dujardin<br />
Equestrian: Dressage Team<br />
Sark, Ampney St Peter, Enfield<br />
50. Laura Trott<br />
Cycling: Track Women’s Omnium<br />
Cheshunt<br />
51. Sir Chris Hoy<br />
Cycling: Track Men’s Keirin<br />
Edinburgh<br />
52. Charlotte Dujardin<br />
Equestrian: Dressage Individual<br />
Newent<br />
53. Nicola Adams<br />
Boxing: Women’s Fly Weight<br />
Leeds<br />
54. Jade Jones<br />
Taekwondo: Women’s under 57kg<br />
Flint<br />
55. Ed McKeever<br />
Canoe Sprint: Men’s Kayak Single (K1) 200m<br />
Bradford-on-Avon<br />
56. Mo Farah<br />
Athletics: Track Men’s 5,000m<br />
Teddington<br />
57. Luke Campbell<br />
Boxing: Men’s Bantam Weight<br />
Hull<br />
58. Anthony Joshua<br />
Boxing: Men’s Super Heavy Weight<br />
Watford<br />
59. ‘Rowers’<br />
General recognition of rowers<br />
Henley<br />
60. Sarah Storey<br />
Cycling: Track Women’s C5 Pursuit<br />
Disley<br />
61. Jonathan Fox<br />
Swimming: Men’s 100m Backstroke S7<br />
St Stephen<br />
62. Mark Colbourne<br />
Cycling: Track Men’s C1 Pursuit<br />
Tredegar<br />
63. Hannah Cockroft<br />
Athletics: Track Women’s 100m T34<br />
Halifax<br />
64 & 65. Neil Fachie & Barney Storey<br />
Cycling: Track Men’s B 1km Time Trial<br />
Aberdeen & Disley<br />
66. Richard Whitehead<br />
Swimming: Men’s 200m, T42<br />
Lowdham<br />
67. Natasha Baker<br />
Equestrian: Championship Test Grade II<br />
Uxbridge<br />
68. Sarah Storey<br />
Cycling: Track Women’s C4-5 500m Time Trial<br />
Poynton<br />
69. Ellie Simmonds<br />
Swimming: Women’s 400m Freestyle, S6<br />
Aldridge<br />
70, 71, 72, 73 & 74. Pamela Relph, Naomi<br />
Riches, David Smith, James Roe and Lily van<br />
den Broecke<br />
Rowing: Mixed Coxed Four, LTAMix4+<br />
Weston Turville, Marlow, Aviemore, Stratford<br />
upon Avon & Oxford<br />
75. Aled Davies<br />
Athletics: Field Men’s Discus Throw, F42<br />
Bridgend<br />
76 & 77. Anthony Kappes & Craig MacLean<br />
Cycling: Track Men’s Ind.B Sprint<br />
Chapel-en-le-Frith & Grantown-On-Spey<br />
78. Jessica-Jane Applegate<br />
Swimming: Women’s 200m Freestyle, S14<br />
Great Yarmouth<br />
79. Sophie Christiansen<br />
Equestrian: Mixed Individual Championship<br />
Test, Grade Ia<br />
Sunningdale<br />
80, 81, 82 & 83. Sophie Christiansen, Lee<br />
Pearson, Deborah Criddle & Sophie Wells<br />
Equestrian: Team Championship<br />
Maidenhead, Bagnall, Trull & Lincoln<br />
84. David Weir<br />
Athletics: Track Men’s 5,000m, T54<br />
Wallington<br />
85. Natasha Baker<br />
Equestrian: Freestyle Test, Grade II<br />
Location to be confirmed<br />
86. Ellie Simmonds<br />
Swimming: Women’s 200m Individual<br />
Medley, SM6<br />
Swansea<br />
87. Mickey Bushell<br />
Athletics: Track Men’s 100m, T53<br />
Telford<br />
88. Danielle Brown<br />
Archery: Women’s Individual Compound,<br />
Open<br />
Skipton<br />
89. Heather Frederiksen<br />
Swimming: Women’s 100m Backstroke, S8<br />
Leigh<br />
90. Sophie Christiansen<br />
Equestrian: Mixed Individual Freestyle<br />
Test, Grade Ia<br />
Egham<br />
91. David Weir<br />
Athletics: Track Men’s 1,500m , T54<br />
Wallington<br />
92. Sarah Storey<br />
Cycling: Road Women’s C5 Time Trial<br />
Eccles<br />
93. Oliver Hynd<br />
Swimming: Men’s 200m Medley, SM8<br />
Kirkby in Ashfield<br />
94. Helena Lucas<br />
Sailing: Single-Person Keelboat, 2.4mR<br />
Portland<br />
95. Sarah Storey<br />
Cycling: Road Women’s Individual C4-5<br />
Road Race<br />
Macclesfield<br />
96. Josef Craig<br />
Swimming: Men’s 400m Freestyle, S7<br />
Jarrow<br />
97. Hannah Cockroft<br />
Athletics: Track Women’s 200m, T34<br />
Halifax: Mount Tabor<br />
98. David Weir<br />
Athletics: Track Men’s 800, T54<br />
Location to be confirmed<br />
99. Jonnie Peacock<br />
Athletics: Track Men’s 100m, T44<br />
Doddington<br />
100. Josie Pearson<br />
Athletics: Field Women’s Discus,<br />
F51/52/53<br />
Hay-on-Wye<br />
101. David Stone<br />
Cycling: Road Mixed T1-2 Road Race<br />
Rawdon<br />
102. David Weir<br />
Athletics: Men’s Marathon, T54<br />
Location to be confirmed<br />
Locations correct at time of going to press – some locations still to be chosen by athletes
6 <strong>September</strong> <strong>2012</strong> email courier@abcomm.co.uk<br />
For daily news, visit <strong>myroyalmail</strong>.com Watch weekly<br />
Follow us on @RM_COURIER <strong>September</strong> <strong>2012</strong> 7<br />
6 London <strong>2012</strong>: stories of our stamps<br />
Our stamps and gold postboxes for GB champions helped us get more positive local and national media<br />
coverage than all the official sponsors combined. Gold medals to our stamps and PR teams!<br />
Dedicated followers<br />
Sarah Storey<br />
@MrsSarahStorey<br />
My second gold postbox has<br />
been painted in Poynton,<br />
Cheshire! Can’t wait to see<br />
pictures :-) thank you<br />
@royalmailnews<br />
Natasha Baker<br />
Rower Tom James<br />
@NBakerParaRider<br />
@TomJames<strong>2012</strong><br />
My stamp number 2!! LOVE<br />
Can’t believe this! [In reply to a IT!!!!!!<br />
picture of the gold postbox in his<br />
hometown]<br />
Jonathan Fox<br />
@JonathanFoxGB<br />
Chris Hoy @chrishoy<br />
My local postbox is being<br />
Love the fact that every GB gold painted #GOLD love it!<br />
medallist gets a postbox in their<br />
hometown painted gold, such a Presenter Claire Balding<br />
great idea!<br />
paid tribute to us for getting<br />
Clare Balding<br />
an envelope with no address<br />
@clarebalding1<br />
details on to her – pictured<br />
My favourite moment so far – Kat<br />
below with her tweet.<br />
Copeland mouthing “we’ve won the<br />
Olympics. We’re going to be on a<br />
stamp tomorrow”<br />
Greg Rutherford<br />
@GregJRutherford<br />
The two postboxes in Milton<br />
Keynes look amazing! Also a<br />
roundabout to be named after me<br />
:O#AMAZING<br />
win!<br />
Richard Whitehead<br />
@Marathonchamp<br />
Now this is an AMAZING photo!<br />
My mum & dad and their new new<br />
postbox; it’s gold BTW!<br />
Win all the stamps!<br />
Join our growing band<br />
of Twitter followers at<br />
@RM_<strong>Courier</strong> and you could win a<br />
complete set of Olympic and Paralympic<br />
gold medal stamps.<br />
cartoon corner<br />
Follow us and tweet @RM_<strong>Courier</strong> with<br />
#winstamps by 5 October. The competition<br />
is open to current and retired Royal<br />
Mail employees only, and we’ll pick five<br />
winners from among our new followers.<br />
Tweet success<br />
Making a splash<br />
Our work to tell the<br />
world about the stamps<br />
and postboxes didn’t go<br />
unnoticed by the Chartered<br />
Institute of Public<br />
Relations.<br />
Rachel Miller from the<br />
organisation said: ‘I tweeted<br />
shortly before midnight yesterday,<br />
which is quickly becoming<br />
known as Super Saturday, saying:<br />
“Well done to the comms<br />
and social media team<br />
@Royalmailstamps. How busy<br />
have you been today?! Great to<br />
see the gold medallists immortalised”.<br />
I received a reply at<br />
11.51pm: “Won’t lie, it’s been a<br />
busy one! Actually, still is!”<br />
‘The feed from @royalmailstamps<br />
is particularly good, with<br />
responses to questions about<br />
how busy the stamp designers<br />
must be and how they’re keeping<br />
going, being met with the<br />
reply “lots of coffee”.<br />
‘The company has an impressively<br />
quick turnaround<br />
producing the new stamps and<br />
has also filmed a YouTube<br />
video showing the process. I<br />
applaud the fact they included<br />
Starring role... Mick<br />
introduced the clips on YouTube<br />
postie Mick Cumbers talking on<br />
behalf of the company as well<br />
as Andrew Hammond, MD<br />
Stamps and Collectibles.’<br />
Share your favourite stamps story from<br />
Share your favourite stamps story from<br />
London <strong>2012</strong> – courier@abcomm.co.uk London <strong>2012</strong> – courier@abcomm.co.uk<br />
7<br />
BBC1 North ran a<br />
news piece from<br />
Hannah Cockroft’s<br />
gold postbox in<br />
Halifax. A member<br />
of the public,<br />
standing next to the<br />
gold box, said: ‘I<br />
think it’s really good<br />
that they’ve painted<br />
the postbox. We<br />
came here especially<br />
to see it.’<br />
BBC Oxford reported<br />
from Lily Van Den<br />
Broecke’s gold<br />
postbox, where Lily’s<br />
father, Floris, was<br />
filmed at the<br />
painting, and a<br />
neighbour said: ‘It’s<br />
wonderful to see the<br />
postbox painted<br />
gold, a real honour.’<br />
Photo credit: Conor Masterton<br />
t<br />
London <strong>2012</strong>: stories of our stamps<br />
We don’t know if you spotted them (where have you been?), but we produced a stamp for every gold medal winner at London <strong>2012</strong>. Team<br />
GB and ParalympicsGB’s outstanding performances meant our stamps team had to put in its own marathon performance. They’re a little<br />
weary and their families just about recognise them again, but they’ve lived to tell the tale…<br />
‘We had to rewrite virtually<br />
every rule about stamp<br />
design, print and distribution,’<br />
says Philip Parker,<br />
head of stamp strategy.<br />
‘We’ve been developing and<br />
testing the gold medal stamps<br />
concept for the last 18 months<br />
to reduce the whole production<br />
timescale from the normal 24<br />
months to 24 hours.’<br />
In preparation for the<br />
Games, hundreds of thousands<br />
of self-adhesive stamp sheets<br />
were pre-printed with details in<br />
gold like the Queen’s silhouette,<br />
the London <strong>2012</strong> Olympic<br />
or Paralympic Games logo and<br />
the stamp value, ready for the<br />
Weary but proud... the London members of our stamps team<br />
Stampede!<br />
Marcus James, head of<br />
design and editorial, based in<br />
Old Street, London, says: ‘The<br />
challenge was daunting, as<br />
there was no room for failure.<br />
The commitment and good humour<br />
across all teams has made<br />
this a truly memorable experience,<br />
and we’re all extremely<br />
proud and honoured to have<br />
been part of it.’<br />
Customer service adviser<br />
Janette Cunningham in<br />
Edinburgh says: ‘Customers<br />
were so excited and wanted<br />
to be certain they would get<br />
their stamps and first day<br />
covers without us running<br />
out. It’s the busiest I’ve<br />
ever known it.’<br />
Cancelling many first<br />
day covers to make<br />
them collectible is<br />
down to Robert<br />
Hutchison, machine<br />
operator: ‘I make<br />
sure that every one<br />
goes out perfectly. It<br />
matters to customers<br />
that the envelope is<br />
pristine and there’s<br />
no ink smudges.’<br />
Once approved by Games organisers<br />
LOCOG, files were prepared by<br />
Dispatch operator<br />
Craig Cockburn<br />
says: ‘It’s been wellorganised<br />
but very<br />
busy. We’ve had<br />
back-up when we<br />
needed it and we all<br />
made sure that<br />
what we sent out was how we would<br />
want to receive it ourselves.’<br />
the production team and sent to six<br />
printers around the UK, who overprinted<br />
the image and text. Even<br />
with medal wins like Mo Farah’s<br />
late into a Saturday evening, the<br />
stamps arrived at 517 designated<br />
Post Office branches the following<br />
morning in more than 90 vehicles.<br />
Mo’s stamp was on sale on Sunday<br />
morning just 12 hours after his win.<br />
Mike Nelson is one of the<br />
production operators using<br />
the stamp affixer that places<br />
stamps precisely on to the<br />
first day covers. He says:<br />
‘We had to be so flexible.<br />
Whereas normally we’d run<br />
a whole batch at a time,<br />
we had to do smaller<br />
batches of each set to fulfil<br />
customer orders.’<br />
Mick Fletcher, senior product<br />
manager for stamps and collectibles,<br />
says: ‘We have many unsung<br />
heroes in our handstamping teams<br />
at Birmingham, Cardiff, Mount<br />
Pleasant, South Shields and Tallents<br />
House. Some customers request<br />
that their special records of a moment<br />
in time are handstamped,<br />
and some first day covers require it<br />
if the stamp position means they<br />
can’t go through the machine.’<br />
Don’t forget your souvenir wallchart inside this <strong>Courier</strong> featuring all our Team GB and ParalympicsGB gold medal stamps. If<br />
you’d like an extra copy so you can display both sides, email courierwallchart@abcomm.co.uk with your name and address,<br />
putting wallchart in the subject box<br />
final images to be overprinted.<br />
Each time a gold medal was<br />
won, the London team selected a<br />
photo from Getty Images, the official<br />
photographic agency for the<br />
Games, plus other professionals’<br />
photos for the Paralympics.<br />
‘We didn’t know what numbers<br />
to expect,’ says Philip<br />
(pictured back row, white shirt).<br />
‘In Beijing, Team GB won<br />
19 golds and ParalympicsGB<br />
42, and we had no idea<br />
what effect the home crowd<br />
would have.<br />
‘Winning 29 and 34 gave us<br />
an amazing challenge, and the<br />
public reaction far exceeded<br />
our expectations.’<br />
Neil Waggott is head of customer<br />
service and fulfilment at Tallents<br />
House, Edinburgh. He says:<br />
‘My team deals with all orders on<br />
stamps and collectibles, and this<br />
summer has seen huge effort and<br />
commitment from all of them. Our<br />
weekly figures for special orders<br />
went off the scale – our calls quadrupled<br />
and web orders increased by<br />
tens of thousands.’<br />
Putting the stamps into special<br />
packets is down to machine operators<br />
like James Walker, who says:<br />
‘We had to work longer hours, but<br />
we know that customers appreciated<br />
what we achieved. What we<br />
assemble here goes to people all<br />
over the world, and that makes us<br />
very proud.’<br />
The teams at all the<br />
handstamp centres<br />
worked extra shifts to get<br />
orders through quickly<br />
while also maintaining<br />
our high level of customer service. Craig<br />
Thomson is pictured at Tallents House,<br />
making sure that each customer’s first day<br />
cover had the correct postmark placed<br />
carefully in position.<br />
You can<br />
order Team GB<br />
and ParalympicsGB<br />
stamps and collectibles<br />
at www.royalmail.com/<br />
goldmedalstamps<br />
until 31 December<br />
<strong>2012</strong>
8 <strong>September</strong> <strong>2012</strong> email courier@abcomm.co.uk<br />
For daily news, visit <strong>myroyalmail</strong>.com Watch weekly<br />
Follow us on @RM_COURIER <strong>September</strong> <strong>2012</strong> 9<br />
London <strong>2012</strong>: in your words<br />
Share your favourite stamps story from<br />
Share your favourite stamps story from<br />
8 London <strong>2012</strong> – courier@abcomm.co.uk<br />
London <strong>2012</strong> – courier@abcomm.co.uk<br />
9<br />
t<br />
London <strong>2012</strong>: in your words<br />
Perfect planning... James and Simon<br />
Helping people get to the Games...<br />
Tommy was involved<br />
Lighting the way<br />
Getting the nation behind the Games was in no small part down to<br />
the Olympic torchbearers, and several of them were our employees.<br />
London delivers<br />
Icing on the cake<br />
Postmen and women<br />
joined our London planning<br />
team in the run-up<br />
to, and during, the<br />
Games, helping to compile<br />
delivery and<br />
collection plans for all<br />
106 delivery offices in<br />
the capital.<br />
James Lawless covered<br />
south-east London, based<br />
at Greenwich delivery<br />
office.<br />
‘From a delivery perspective,<br />
the Olympics<br />
went better then we could<br />
have hoped for, particularly<br />
on the Torch Relay days,’<br />
he says.<br />
‘We were expecting a<br />
higher level of disruption<br />
and were pleased when<br />
the relay went through<br />
each area on time and<br />
maintained its momentum.<br />
Simon McGee, who<br />
also covered south-east<br />
London, adds: ‘Extensive<br />
plans were put in place and<br />
we followed them to the<br />
letter, helping us achieve<br />
the full universal service<br />
obligation with minimum<br />
disruption to customers.’<br />
Stratford shines<br />
by Jo Gurman<br />
Park life... Doug (left) and Yakub<br />
Stratford colleagues<br />
put in a gold medal performance<br />
of their own at<br />
the Olympic and Paralympic<br />
Games.<br />
At Stratford collection<br />
hub, the team ensured<br />
everyone was kept up-todate<br />
with information concerning<br />
their operations.<br />
Driver Ayub Mangerah<br />
collected from three points<br />
at the Olympic Park, while<br />
colleague Yakub Makardam<br />
collected from two in the<br />
athletes’ village.<br />
Ayub says: ‘Everything<br />
went smoothly and I think<br />
that was down to the planning.<br />
It was very busy and a<br />
big challenge but great experience<br />
and a once-in-alifetime<br />
opportunity.’<br />
Yakub adds: ‘I really enjoyed<br />
the experience and<br />
everything seemed to go<br />
according to plan. I saw<br />
lots of the athletes and had<br />
my photo taken with some<br />
of them.’<br />
Collection hub manager<br />
Mark Maxwell says: ‘We<br />
had a very successful<br />
Games. I’d like to thank<br />
staff for all their hard work.’<br />
Postman Doug Mowatt,<br />
from Stratford delivery<br />
office, has been delivering<br />
to the Olympic Park<br />
throughout its construction.<br />
He says: ‘At times, I had to deliver<br />
in a hard hat, boots and<br />
protective clothing.’<br />
During the Games, Doug<br />
had to deliver all over the<br />
site. ‘I had eight different<br />
passes round my neck at<br />
one time!’ he adds. ‘It’s not<br />
been a normal job but I’ve<br />
loved every minute.’<br />
Golden Ticket<br />
Spectators couldn’t have got to<br />
their chosen events without us.<br />
Our Princess Royal Distribution Centre<br />
(PRDC) in north London processed<br />
1.8 million envelopes containing tickets<br />
sent out in the first two tranches of ticket<br />
orders, and colleagues at Manchester<br />
mail centre did the same with up to<br />
250,000 ticket deliveries sent out by<br />
Ticketmaster.<br />
Manchester postman Tommy Wall<br />
says: ‘It was a completely different way<br />
of working, in a secure area. We were<br />
processing up to 9,800 a day and it’s<br />
great to know we helped people go to<br />
the Games.’<br />
Virginija Svelniene, pallet machine<br />
driver at PRDC, volunteered<br />
to join the<br />
Olympics sorting<br />
shift. She says: ‘I was<br />
so excited when I<br />
heard we’d won this<br />
contract!<br />
‘To be involved with<br />
the Olympics in any<br />
way was fabulous.’<br />
Scan THe<br />
QR codes to<br />
read the full<br />
stories online<br />
Our Olympics director Mark<br />
Thomson admits he’s lost for words<br />
on how well we handled the Games.<br />
‘Operationally, I’ve been gobsmacked<br />
day in, day out,’ he says.<br />
‘It’s been as close to business as usual<br />
as we could have got. I’ve had fantastic<br />
feedback from our major business customers,<br />
and not a single complaint from<br />
the public.<br />
‘It was all in the planning – we<br />
planned for every possible scenario.’<br />
We also helped to get people to the<br />
Games by delivering the tickets.<br />
‘We got countless tweets from spectators<br />
about how impressed they were with<br />
the ticket delivery service,’ says Mark.<br />
All on track<br />
Customers loved our email and text<br />
notifications to tell them that their London<br />
<strong>2012</strong> tickets were being delivered.<br />
Many of them took to Twitter to tweet<br />
our praises.<br />
The success of this IT project was down<br />
to the efforts of our Customer Solutions<br />
team in Group Technology. Step on to the<br />
rostrum, guys, and let us hang a gold<br />
medal around your necks.<br />
Technology<br />
triumph... Simon<br />
Dodd led the IT<br />
work to set up<br />
the notifications<br />
to customers<br />
‘Gobsmacked’<br />
by Lisa Mobley<br />
Then there’s the gold medal<br />
stamps and gold postboxes.<br />
‘The coverage we got was<br />
manna from heaven,’ says<br />
Mark.<br />
‘I watched live on TV as Gary<br />
Lineker presented a giant gold<br />
medal stamp to Helen Glover<br />
and Heather Stanning, the first<br />
gold medallists, and then Bradley<br />
Wiggins. You can’t buy that!<br />
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.’<br />
Sales of the stamps were nearly a fifth<br />
above what we hoped. In fact, we became<br />
an integral part of people’s enjoyment<br />
of the Games.<br />
‘After Sydney 2000, Australia Post was<br />
voted fourth most popular sponsor –<br />
but it hadn’t even been a sponsor! I<br />
Just the ticket... Virginija<br />
processes the precious tickets at PRDC<br />
Service with a smile… the ticketing team<br />
Good call<br />
A dedicated Olympic customer<br />
ticketing team at our Plymouth<br />
contact centre handled 50,000 calls<br />
from customers.<br />
Business customer service manager<br />
Sam Hewitt says: ‘We started with a<br />
team of 24, but we soon had around 50<br />
people answering calls or working<br />
behind the scenes.’<br />
Most people just wanted reassurance<br />
about their precious tickets arriving safe<br />
and sound, especially if they’d moved<br />
house or were away.<br />
Publicity you can’t buy… Mark with Dame Tanni Grey-Thompson<br />
at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, birthplace of the Paralympics<br />
wanted to achieve the same effect,’ says<br />
Mark.<br />
‘The stamps and gold postboxes took<br />
on a momentum of their own. We even<br />
had requests to paint them where winning<br />
horses were born!<br />
‘London <strong>2012</strong> has been billed as the<br />
well-planned, happy Games – I think we<br />
brought the feel-good factor to the party.’<br />
Photo credit: London <strong>2012</strong><br />
Beyond expectations<br />
Customer nominated<br />
Allan Coldicott, Stratford<br />
upon Avon – ‘It’s so hard to put<br />
into words how fantastic the experience<br />
was. I’m the longest serving<br />
member of the local athletics club,<br />
having been with them for 30 years. I<br />
never expected to do anything like this,<br />
so doing it in my hometown was great.’<br />
Pauline Eastment, St Athan –<br />
‘I had an absolutely mind-blowing<br />
day and was on a high the whole<br />
time, determined to enjoy every<br />
minute of it. I jogged the 300 metres<br />
as slowly as I could to make it<br />
last as long as possible. In fact, the<br />
security guy asked me to speed up<br />
a bit! I will never forget it and feel<br />
really honoured to play just my<br />
small part in the Olympics!’<br />
Phil Kybert, Bournemouth – ‘A customer<br />
nominated me from my previous job because of the<br />
work I did on curbing anti-social behaviour. I also<br />
chair a local youth football club. It’s all about putting<br />
something back into the local community. I’ve taken<br />
the torch to the local scout group and other groups;<br />
everyone’s been pleased to see it.’<br />
Roger Smitheram, Hayle – ‘The crowds in<br />
Newlyn were immense and I had an amazing and<br />
memorable day supported by all my family and<br />
friends. It was a day to remember. We were shown<br />
how to light the next torchbearer’s flame with what<br />
is known as the Olympic Kiss. As I was just about to<br />
light Bryony’s torch, we spontaneously kissed,<br />
and then Bryony kissed the policeman<br />
beside her – we had the first real Olympic Kiss!’<br />
John Hacking, Leyburn – ‘It was one of the<br />
most special days in my life. To find myself having<br />
my photo taken with Lord Coe at the end was just<br />
the icing on the cake – and the sun shone!’<br />
Olympic kiss<br />
Mind-blowing<br />
Pension power<br />
Mike Russell, Peterborough pensioner – ‘Carrying<br />
the Olympic flame was a fantastic experience, especially at my<br />
time of life. I have previously carried the Queen’s message at<br />
three Commonwealth Games, on one occasion with a police and<br />
Royal Mail escort.’<br />
Marvellous day<br />
Ann Burrows, Stockton-on-Tees – ‘Being nominated<br />
to carry the torch was a great honour and it was a marvellous<br />
day. The atmosphere was amazing and everyone seemed to<br />
get behind us.’<br />
Going the extra mile<br />
Dave Hoskin, Bodmin – ‘I was asked if I could run an extra<br />
leg with the torch in Bugle as one of the torchbearers was absent.<br />
All I could reply was: “I will take it to Plymouth if you like!” It was<br />
great to see friends and family along the way, including a group<br />
with their very own banner.’<br />
Rock star<br />
Rik Bennett, Perranporth – ‘I got off the coach and just<br />
shouted: “Come on Truro, make some noise!” and the crowd<br />
went wild. I’ve never seen so many people in one place. I felt like<br />
a rock star and it was really emotional to see my five children<br />
cheering me on.’
10 London <strong>2012</strong>: in your words<br />
Share your favourite stamps story from<br />
London <strong>2012</strong> – courier@abcomm.co.uk<br />
Share your favourite stamps story from<br />
London <strong>2012</strong> – courier@abcomm.co.uk<br />
London <strong>2012</strong>: in your words<br />
11<br />
Just<br />
the<br />
ticket<br />
Some lucky staff got to<br />
experience the Olympics<br />
opening ceremony or live events<br />
first-hand as a thank you for<br />
their exceptional work on our<br />
modernisation programme.<br />
Steve Gorman (right, with<br />
brother Tony) from Brighton<br />
delivery office says: ‘The experience<br />
was absolutely out of this<br />
world. It exceeded all my expectations.<br />
The sense of occasion<br />
and the impact of the music<br />
was sensational.’<br />
We<br />
helped<br />
make it<br />
happen!<br />
Volunteers have been integral to the<br />
Olympic and Paralympic Games since<br />
they were first used at London 1948.<br />
At London <strong>2012</strong>, some of our staff<br />
were officials, some welcomed visitors<br />
and athletes, and others found more<br />
innovative ways to get involved!<br />
Matthew Witt, Newmarket, delivery manager,<br />
track athletics official – ‘I rang the<br />
lap bell for Mo Farah’s 5,000m race and<br />
was the main judge on the finish line<br />
when Jessica Ennis won her gold medal.’<br />
Bob Hale, Bath, postman, BMX referee – ‘I<br />
met several famous people while refereeing<br />
and watched Shanaze Reade as she<br />
was doing well in the heats. The whole<br />
thing was so exciting.’<br />
A secret weapon in the medal tally for Team<br />
GB came from Cath Barrett, postwoman<br />
at Preston mail centre. She owns the horse<br />
Glen Gold, ridden by Sam Murray to silver<br />
medal success in the modern pentathlon.<br />
Cath (pictured riding Glen Gold) says:<br />
‘Glen trialled in April this year and was<br />
awarded a place. The horses are matched to<br />
competitors at random, so it was a fantastic<br />
feeling that he was ridden by a British rider,<br />
Goncalo Menezes, Brentford especially when she came second.’<br />
postman, table tennis – ‘It<br />
was an amazing experience, dealing with all the athletes and being a<br />
table assistant in some matches. I was on TV! I’m proud of being part of<br />
this extraordinary event.’<br />
Jill Campbell, machine operator<br />
and workplace coach at Tyneside<br />
mail centre, says: ‘Being at the opening<br />
ceremony was absolutely fantastic.<br />
We were five rows from the<br />
front, right next to a group of former<br />
medal winners. My favourite bit was<br />
when they hoisted the Olympic flag.<br />
It was really emotional.’<br />
Alan Willis, engineering team<br />
coach at Preston mail centre, says:<br />
‘It was absolutely amazing – a oncein-a-lifetime<br />
experience. The atmosphere<br />
was electric and you really<br />
couldn’t take your eyes off the<br />
arena. My favourite bit was when<br />
the green pastures gave way to the<br />
industrial landscape. I also liked how<br />
the Olympic flame was lit. Totally unexpected<br />
and a really nice touch to<br />
let the upcoming athletes do it.’<br />
Maria Sereno, deputy manager and<br />
Autonomous Maintenance World<br />
Class Mail pillar lead at South Midlands<br />
mail centre, says: ‘It was the<br />
most amazing experience and will<br />
stay with me for the rest of my life.<br />
The view I had was exceptional and<br />
the choreography was breathtaking.’<br />
Lloyd Cochran, postman at Paisley<br />
delivery office, says: ‘My girlfriend<br />
Linda and I were lucky enough to be<br />
sitting next to the past Olympic<br />
medal winners and the main stage.<br />
My highlight was the high standard<br />
of the singers, who hugely exceeded<br />
my expectations. The biggest cheer<br />
of the night was given to<br />
Muhammad Ali, who I was really<br />
pleased to have seen.’<br />
Vinod Bhundia, Romford<br />
mail centre – ‘I was one of<br />
10,000 volunteer performers<br />
who got the chance in a lifetime<br />
to perform in front of the<br />
royal family and all the VIPs<br />
from around the world. I still<br />
can’t believe I took part in the<br />
world’s biggest sporting event.’<br />
Bill Holden, postman from<br />
Norwich mail centre, says: ‘The<br />
ceremony was fantastic, and<br />
what you saw on TV was only a<br />
fraction of the experience.<br />
World Class Mail is a team effort<br />
and I couldn’t have been this<br />
lucky without the support,<br />
knowledge and advice of many<br />
colleagues.’<br />
Lynne Semper-Scotney from<br />
our Peterborough hub won a ticket<br />
to the athletics. She says: ‘It was an<br />
experience I will have for the rest of<br />
my life. We were so lucky to see Mo<br />
Farah and Usain Bolt. The whole<br />
stadium was shouting for Mo.’<br />
Ceremony stars<br />
Sajith and Vinod took part in Danny Boyle’s spectacular opening ceremony<br />
Sajith Ismail, Stratford delivery<br />
office, pictured with opening<br />
ceremony director Danny<br />
Boyle – ‘There were members<br />
of the royal family and Michelle<br />
Obama so close to me. It was<br />
great to be part of the drama.<br />
My family were very proud. I<br />
was dressed to look like one of<br />
the workers from the past. It<br />
took nearly 20 rehearsals.’<br />
Maura Campbell,<br />
distribution manager,<br />
Croydon,<br />
tennis first responder<br />
– ‘I ended<br />
up with sore feet,<br />
got wet, and<br />
hot, but I managed<br />
to get Tsonga’s<br />
match ball<br />
and the ones used<br />
in the Men’s<br />
Bronze match!<br />
Not too many injuries<br />
to deal with,<br />
mainly blisters.’<br />
Alastair Smith, Aireborough<br />
collections driver, road cycling<br />
marshal – ‘I had a memorable<br />
experience. Alexander Vinokourov,<br />
gold medal winner in<br />
the road race, shook my hand<br />
after the time trial.’<br />
Tony Woodward, Jubilee mail centre postman, was<br />
featured on TV when he cycled down part of the time<br />
trial route after the race: ‘It made sense to use one of the<br />
bikes we’ve got to get through to postboxes when roads<br />
are closed. The crowds were cheering me on and even<br />
police and stewards were clapping!’<br />
Bob Silver, Quality<br />
and Service Integrity<br />
team, volunteer with St<br />
John Ambulance –<br />
‘We dealt with several<br />
calls, including a sixyear-old<br />
who cut his leg<br />
open. I also did a duty<br />
with the police to cover<br />
for regular officers on<br />
loan to London.’<br />
Binu Sebastian, Blackburn,<br />
Manchester driver – ‘I was driving<br />
around Manchester in an Olympic<br />
Games vehicle picking up linesmen,<br />
referees and other VIPs from<br />
the airport, training centres and<br />
matches. It was amazing.’<br />
Barry Holland, Gatwick postman,<br />
bus shuttle driver – ‘It was a<br />
fantastic experience. I helped<br />
move VIPs and athletes to and<br />
from the Copperbox for the handball<br />
events. Everyone was very<br />
friendly and down to earth.’<br />
Jimmy Hann (centre), Antrim<br />
postman, pre-training camp host –<br />
‘It was good to work with athletes<br />
from different countries, and I met<br />
Taoufik Makhloufi, who went on to<br />
win the gold medal in the 1,500m.’<br />
Kishor Kanji, HWDC postman,<br />
Heathrow ambassador – ‘I had a<br />
very good experience meeting,<br />
greeting and welcoming Chinese,<br />
Australian, Russian and Swedish<br />
athletes and lots of tourists. It was a<br />
very happy once-in-a-lifetime experience,<br />
but also lots of hard work!’<br />
Chris Maddocks, Tiverton<br />
postman, former Olympics race<br />
walk competitor and now commentator<br />
– ‘It was an honour to<br />
commentate on three Olympic<br />
walks for NBC. It was nice going<br />
back to a world I knew as an<br />
Olympic competitor, this time<br />
as a journalist.’ Chris has a new<br />
autobiography out at www.race<br />
walkuk.com/book<br />
Steve Harris, Southampton<br />
late shift manager, safety<br />
officer at Greenwich Park for<br />
Olympics and Paralympics –<br />
‘LOCOG asked me because of<br />
my work as chief steward at<br />
Southampton FC, as I already<br />
had the required qualification.’<br />
Martin Grogan (third left), Billericay<br />
postman, responsible for football<br />
equipment in Manchester – ‘I’ve<br />
worked with the England team and<br />
on events like the World Cup and<br />
European championships. I’ve met<br />
lots of the players and it was really<br />
enjoyable.’<br />
Paul Taylor, people transition<br />
manager, Greenford, ExCeL driver<br />
– ‘As part of the driving team I was<br />
based at ExCeL and was privileged<br />
to play my part in delivering a wonderful<br />
Olympic Games.’<br />
Abimbola Oshikoya,<br />
delivery revisions planner<br />
in London, Paralympics<br />
Games Maker<br />
– ‘The Paralympics<br />
were great – if those<br />
athletes can do it with<br />
their disabilities, why<br />
can’t everybody? It was<br />
a real eye-opener.’<br />
Sunil Patel (far right), London delivery planner,<br />
was at the media centre – ‘I saw many famous faces.<br />
I was buzzing the whole time I was at the Olympic<br />
Park, and we had our photo taken with Lord Coe.’<br />
Peter Muwonge-Matovu, HWDC<br />
postman, Heathrow ambassador – ‘It<br />
was inspirational to be part of this exercise<br />
and to meet such interesting people.’<br />
Kevin Matthews, Dartmouth<br />
postman, sailing physiotherapist –<br />
‘Nothing prepared me for how I<br />
felt when I was actually there treating<br />
sailors, and meeting<br />
celebrities including Lord Coe, Ben<br />
Ainslie and Nick Dempsey. I have<br />
fantastic memories.’<br />
David Johnson, Porthmadog postman,<br />
poolside at Aquatics Centre –<br />
‘We monitored warm-ups and<br />
swim-downs. I was poolside when<br />
Rebecca Adlington won bronze in<br />
her 800m Freestyle.’
12 <strong>September</strong> <strong>2012</strong> <strong>September</strong> <strong>2012</strong> 13<br />
Great call of China<br />
Targeting international growth market as part of our overall parcel strategy<br />
We announced a new venture with a<br />
Chinese logistics company last month to<br />
deliver parcels from China to Europe,<br />
including the UK. Editor-in-chief Mark<br />
Glover caught up with Mark Thomson,<br />
managing director of our International<br />
business, to tell us more…<br />
So, what’s the deal in China, Mark?<br />
Our European parcels business GLS has joined<br />
forces with a leading national Chinese company<br />
called ZJS Express. We will trade in China as<br />
Euro Business Parcel, offering Chinese businesses<br />
a competitively priced, fully-tracked, businessto-business<br />
delivery proposition<br />
enabling them to reach a huge<br />
number of customers across Europe.<br />
Why China in particular?<br />
China’s logistics market is growing<br />
at around 11% a year, whereas<br />
in the UK and Europe it’s much<br />
slower. Stats show that China<br />
has surpassed the US to become<br />
the EU’s largest trading partner.<br />
Chinese exports to the EU have<br />
grown almost 50% in the last five years, according<br />
to trade data from the European Commission.<br />
Revenues are expected to grow by around 20%,<br />
according to state predictions. We’re targeting<br />
emerging markets and have to have a presence<br />
in China or we will be missing a trick.<br />
Tell us about ZJS...<br />
They have invested in a nationwide pick up<br />
and delivery system that reaches places where<br />
competitors struggle to go. Together with GLS’s<br />
Best of the Best<br />
The first Logistics recognition event saw<br />
exceptional teams and individuals crowned<br />
winners in the Best of the Best awards.<br />
Judges whittled down more than 200 nominations<br />
from Logistics Operations, Fleet & Maintenance<br />
Services (F&MS), Facilities Management,<br />
Manual Data Entry Centres (MDECs) and the support<br />
functions in HR, Finance and Quality & Service<br />
Integrity. There were four categories in what will<br />
The Best of the Best winners:<br />
Rising Star of the Year –<br />
Craig Fellows (Fleet), Daniel<br />
Langdon (Plymouth MDEC),<br />
Danny Moore (Processing)<br />
and Paul Allen (Network)<br />
Colleague of the Year –<br />
Dave Lees (NDC) and<br />
Suzanne Delve (North<br />
West regional distribution<br />
centre)<br />
reach into 42 European countries, it’s a powerful<br />
combination. Parcelforce Worldwide will act<br />
as the UK delivery arm. With established networks,<br />
we don’t need huge capital investment.<br />
But isn’t the Chinese market really competitive?<br />
How will we stand out?<br />
We’ve spotted a niche market. Customers want<br />
reliable delivery to Europe within 3-5 days without<br />
paying a premium price for a faster service.<br />
We’re targeting small to medium-sized businesses<br />
in China with the catchphrase “the speed you<br />
need at the price you want.”<br />
Why is this move important<br />
to Royal Mail?<br />
The alliance between GLS<br />
and ZJS is part of our<br />
overall parcel strategy. As<br />
letter volumes continue<br />
to fall, we are focused on<br />
generating profitable revenue<br />
streams in parcels<br />
and marketing mail. In the<br />
last financial year, our parcels<br />
business grew by 6%<br />
and accounted for 48% of<br />
Group revenues, generating £4.2 billion. Our<br />
projections see China as helping to push that<br />
revenue beyond 50% in the next few years. Developing<br />
our business in this way will also make<br />
us attractive to potential private investors, looking<br />
to explore growth opportunities.<br />
We see this<br />
move as the<br />
start of much<br />
bigger activity<br />
internationally.<br />
now be an annual event.<br />
Dave Lees, administrator, ops support at our National<br />
Distribution Centre, was joint winner of Colleague<br />
of the Year. He says: ‘I was very surprised to<br />
win given the calibre of the nominees.<br />
‘I feel really privileged to be among the first winners,<br />
and it was a fantastic occasion.’<br />
More than 120 people attended the event at the<br />
Belfry, which also recognised staff celebrating 40<br />
years’ service in 2011-12 and colleagues who made<br />
exceptional contributions to the business.<br />
Team of the Year – Hemel<br />
Hempstead vehicle service<br />
centre<br />
Manager of the Year –<br />
Diane Bulmer, Plymouth<br />
MDEC<br />
China in their hands... Mark<br />
Thomson and ZJS president Zheng Ruixiang<br />
How long has the deal taken and what’s<br />
been involved?<br />
It has taken some time. China is a large<br />
and complex country, and doing business<br />
there requires patience and perseverance<br />
as well as being sensitive to cultural<br />
issues. Building relationships is crucial to doing<br />
business in China. Our relationship with ZJS was<br />
carefully nurtured over many months. We underwent<br />
a programme of cross-cultural training led<br />
by a specialist to help better understanding and<br />
effective working for everyone. They were very<br />
interested in how Royal Mail operates, for<br />
example adopting a reward and recognition<br />
scheme similar to Watch & Win.<br />
Where next after China?<br />
We see this move as the start of much bigger<br />
activity internationally, looking to grow our business<br />
in other emerging markets in a similar way,<br />
using our existing network and partnerships.<br />
Safety savvy<br />
It’s 107,000 accidentfree<br />
hours and counting<br />
for the project to transform<br />
Leeds and Tyneside<br />
mail centres.<br />
That impressive record<br />
helped the project win the<br />
prestigious Regional Health<br />
and Safety Award category in<br />
the annual Association for Project<br />
Safety awards last month.<br />
‘The way we shared information<br />
between all the parties<br />
was key,’ says Jonathan<br />
Barrington, safety controller<br />
at Leeds.<br />
‘Everyone who works here<br />
was involved. We put up<br />
boards to update people in<br />
reception and across the site.<br />
‘We introduced contractors<br />
Wates to our World Class<br />
Mail ways of working. They<br />
already had their own procedures<br />
for reporting things like<br />
near misses, but they chose to<br />
follow ours.’<br />
Wates also adopted a<br />
yellow card system for any of<br />
its contractors who did not<br />
conform to the strict health<br />
and safety standards. Anyone<br />
breaching standards on aspects<br />
such as wearing the right<br />
personal protective equipment<br />
was warned, and if they<br />
offended again they weren’t<br />
allowed back on site.<br />
They also held a safety<br />
briefing for all workers<br />
at 8am each day,<br />
and an end-of-day<br />
huddle before everyone<br />
headed home.<br />
Customers want<br />
reliable delivery<br />
to Europe within<br />
3-5 days without<br />
paying a premium<br />
rate for faster<br />
service.<br />
See<br />
more World<br />
Class Mail<br />
success stories in<br />
this issue’s insert<br />
with employee<br />
copies of<br />
<strong>Courier</strong><br />
Safety<br />
first...<br />
Jonathan<br />
collected<br />
the award<br />
by Hilary Robertson<br />
REtired High Court Judge<br />
Sir Gordon Langley, who is<br />
leading an independent inquiry<br />
to come up with recommendations<br />
to reduce the<br />
risk of dog attacks, visited<br />
Cardiff North delivery office<br />
and Home Counties North<br />
mail centre to talk to staff.<br />
Sir Gordon heard colleagues<br />
talk about the new process the<br />
team has introduced using our<br />
safety management programmes<br />
and World Class Mail (WCM)<br />
techniques. This has seen accidents<br />
at Cardiff North reduced<br />
from nine in 2010 to zero in 2011.<br />
Postman Matthew Lewis told<br />
him: ‘The process we have been<br />
through means that every possible<br />
risk has been identified. We all<br />
have posting pegs and we know<br />
not to put hands into letterboxes.’<br />
Postman Anthony Tooher<br />
explained why he thought dogs<br />
were sometimes aggressive:<br />
‘They’re usually just trying to defend<br />
their property and see you<br />
as a threat. It can be the owners<br />
who make their dogs aggressive,<br />
but 99% of customers do listen<br />
when we talk to them and often<br />
do what is needed.’<br />
WCM safety pillar lead Craig<br />
Sampson took Sir Gordon out to<br />
a property to give him a clearer<br />
langley inquiry<br />
quizzes cardiff<br />
picture of the risks. On the day,<br />
even stepping near the door<br />
provoked frenzied barking.<br />
Sir Gordon saw first-hand<br />
how intimidating it can be for<br />
a postman or woman to deliver<br />
items through the letterbox or<br />
ring the doorbell to hand-deliver<br />
a package at a property with<br />
an aggressive dog.<br />
‘I am encouraged to see<br />
Royal Mail taking action and<br />
stopping delivery where it is<br />
simply not safe to do so,’ he<br />
says. ‘I don’t think there’s a lot<br />
of disagreement about the need<br />
for change, but it’s the detail of<br />
licensing, chipping, training and<br />
so on that needs clarifying.’<br />
Case study<br />
‘Sir Gordon was very easy<br />
to talk to,’ says postman<br />
Phil Eide, who suffered a<br />
dog bite nearly two years<br />
ago.<br />
‘He asked good questions<br />
and listened to what<br />
I had to say. I explained that<br />
the problem isn’t always the<br />
big or “dangerous” dogs,<br />
but the medium-sized,<br />
What<br />
happens<br />
next...<br />
Biting back – on the bbc<br />
Postwoman Debbie Dunning<br />
Presenter Alexis Green spent Postman Carl Grant adds: ‘I ‘The piece highlighted the<br />
talked about the psy-<br />
several hours talking to staff. was happy to be interviewed. 537 admissions to hospital<br />
chological effect of a dog attack<br />
Debbie says: ‘My bite was I don’t know if it will make the in the south of England from<br />
when she was inter-<br />
quite nasty and there was a psy-<br />
public change the way they dog attacks. That doesn’t<br />
viewed on BBC South Today. chological effect – even though keep their dogs, but if it raises even include those treated<br />
The local news team I have a dog myself, I became awareness of the issue, then at A&E. Summer holidays<br />
dropped in on Shirley delivery quite nervous of them when that’s a good thing.’<br />
are one of the worst times for<br />
office to help highlight the danger<br />
out on my round. It’ll be good Paul Watford, delivery of-<br />
dog attacks, so this feature on<br />
dogs pose to our postmen if this piece on the BBC helps to fice manager, demonstrated BBC South Today was great<br />
and women.<br />
get the message across.’ our posting pegs. He says: timing.’<br />
Fact-finding mission... secretary to the inquiry<br />
Robert Alnutt, Sir Gordon (centre) and Matthew discuss the process<br />
ordinary dogs.’<br />
Phil suffered a dog bite in<br />
his finger when he pushed a<br />
letter through a customer’s<br />
letterbox.<br />
‘By communicating with<br />
the customer and immediately<br />
starting to use a posting<br />
peg, we were able to reduce<br />
the risk of it happening again,’<br />
says Phil.<br />
The inquiry has finished gathering<br />
evidence and is now drafting<br />
conclusions.<br />
It is hoped the inquiry will report later<br />
this year.<br />
Safer... posting pegs<br />
are among our toolkit<br />
Recommendations...<br />
our chairman Donald Brydon<br />
set up the inquiry<br />
Sharing experiences... Phil<br />
was bitten by a dog<br />
It’s a wrap… Paul, Alexis and Debbie
14 <strong>September</strong> <strong>2012</strong> email courier@abcomm.co.uk<br />
For daily news, visit <strong>myroyalmail</strong>.com Watch weekly<br />
Follow us on @RM_COURIER <strong>September</strong> <strong>2012</strong> 15<br />
Grow a Tash<br />
and raise some cash<br />
Upload photos of your moustache<br />
global fundraiser. Royal Mail will tickly feeling for a month, can’t you?<br />
to <strong>myroyalmail</strong>.com during match every penny you raise – but But if not, you could take part in a<br />
Movember and see if it’s ‘hot’ or only if you register via <strong>myroyalmail</strong>. sponsored run or organise a fundraising<br />
not. Our employee website will com so we can track the money our<br />
event instead.<br />
stage ‘Tash of the Titans’ – a people raise.<br />
Simply log on to <strong>myroyalmail</strong>.com by Lisa Mobley<br />
game where we pit moustaches<br />
Women can also get involved. for more info – then get growing your<br />
against one another to see Become a Mo Sista and support the tash and raising your cash.<br />
which ones people rate the best. men in your lives (they don’t have to If you don’t have access to the<br />
It’s all in the name of raising work for us) by encouraging them to internet, you can request a paper<br />
awareness and as much money take part and raising as much money registration form by calling a dedicated<br />
as we can during the month-long as you can. You can put up with that phoneline: 0151 284 1221.<br />
Modernisation watch<br />
last but<br />
not least<br />
In the picture... Seaford’s John Hamlet loads up the van<br />
by Ben Mccormick<br />
PLANNING, attention to detail<br />
and good communication<br />
were key factors in Seaford’s<br />
successful delivery revision.<br />
The team there is now sharing<br />
vans and using trolleys<br />
to deliver more packets and<br />
fewer letters. Many offices<br />
have now introduced the new<br />
delivery methods as we step<br />
up the pace of change across<br />
the business.<br />
Being the last delivery office<br />
in its sector to introduce<br />
the changes, Seaford had the<br />
benefit of learning from other<br />
revisions in the area.<br />
Delivery office manager<br />
Tim Hill had seen the revision<br />
deployed at nearby Eastbourne<br />
delivery office, so knew what<br />
worked well in ensuring as<br />
smooth a transition as possible.<br />
Tim spent a lot of time<br />
checking the data to make<br />
sure each walk was mapped<br />
out correctly.<br />
Postman John Hamlet thinks<br />
this helped people at the office<br />
adjust to the changes.<br />
‘No one really likes change,<br />
but we were told why it was<br />
happening at team briefings and<br />
most of us are reasonably happy<br />
now the new methods have had<br />
a chance to bed in,’ he says.<br />
‘While there are still one or<br />
two things to iron out, on the<br />
whole, everyone’s adjusted to<br />
the new way of working.’<br />
Delivery revisions – the story so far<br />
Number of vans<br />
9,286 Number of PDAs<br />
16,088<br />
Fully<br />
modernised units<br />
667<br />
and counting<br />
Number of high<br />
capacity trolleys<br />
1,767 Number of<br />
lightweight trolleys<br />
27,569<br />
(Figures from April 2009 to end of August <strong>2012</strong>)<br />
Close inspection... David Bryan, Anna Sargent, Cliff Callow, Chris Phoenix, Michael McNally, Vaughan Weller and John McKinley<br />
Completely<br />
sorted<br />
by Ben Hall<br />
‘We are currently dealing with a<br />
lot of diversions from elsewhere and<br />
OUR FINAL intelligent letter sorting<br />
machine (iLSM) has been in-<br />
says.<br />
having the iLSMs really helps,’ she<br />
stalled at South Midlands mail ‘It’s great to work in an environment<br />
where we’re getting this<br />
centre.<br />
The 66th iLSM marks the end of kind of brilliant equipment to use.’<br />
a £127m project that has seen all Anna Sargent, mail centre manager,<br />
says: ‘The machine arriving<br />
the machinery delivered and fitted<br />
without incident.<br />
was an integral part of the centre’s<br />
Julie Barrett, iLSM-trained postwoman,<br />
believes the new ma-<br />
iLSMs are critical parts of the<br />
development and all six of our<br />
chine will be crucial to the centre’s ongoing transformation process here.<br />
ongoing ability to handle high volumes<br />
of mail.<br />
about integration with<br />
‘From day one this site has been all<br />
technology,<br />
Busy<br />
bees<br />
WORK IS almost complete<br />
on the new<br />
Beeston delivery office.<br />
All colleagues, who previously<br />
worked in a makeshift<br />
area in Nottingham<br />
mail centre, will move<br />
into the purpose-built extension<br />
from November.<br />
CWU area rep Frank<br />
Bolger says: ‘It’s great<br />
for the centre and good<br />
recognition for the hard<br />
work of the staff whose<br />
futures are now secured.’<br />
Delivery office manager<br />
Philip Rice is also<br />
enthusiastic about the<br />
change, which has been<br />
in the works for two years.<br />
‘For all of us covering<br />
Beeston, this new office<br />
will be amazing,’ he says.<br />
‘Having a self-contained<br />
unit will allow us to<br />
keep it tidy, improve safety<br />
and reduce accidents and<br />
complaints.’<br />
The delivery office will<br />
have segregated parking,<br />
space adequate for<br />
future delivery revisions<br />
Machine milestone... the final iLSM arrives<br />
and these machines give us a<br />
higher capability to process mail<br />
while using less machinery.’<br />
‘The final iLSM being installed at<br />
South Midlands is a neat bookend to<br />
mark the end of the project; the site<br />
is home to the first fully operational<br />
iLSM, and the last one,’ says iLSM<br />
project manager Richard Stratford.<br />
Groundbreaking... Doug Neil, Geoff Warburton,<br />
Tony Sutton, Frank Bolger, Tariq Hussain, Ricky McAulay and Calvin Dipper<br />
or flow changes, welfare<br />
facilities and administration<br />
accommodation.<br />
Nottingham mail centre<br />
will also undergo<br />
extensions as part of the<br />
project, scheduled to<br />
be completed in March<br />
2013.<br />
80p x 52 weeks=<br />
£100<br />
Meet your match<br />
Of course, we don’t just<br />
limit our charitable support<br />
to one month – we help our<br />
people all year round.<br />
Whether it’s for our Charity of<br />
the Year programme or another<br />
good cause close to your heart,<br />
the company can help.<br />
Here’s how...<br />
Through our Charity of the Year<br />
programme <strong>2012</strong>-14, the company<br />
is matching every penny employees<br />
raise for Prostate Cancer<br />
UK up to £1 million. Once we hit<br />
the £2 million mark, the company<br />
will match the money employees<br />
raise – again up to £2 million – for<br />
Alzheimer’s Society and Whizz-<br />
Kidz.<br />
Through the community support<br />
scheme, staff can apply once<br />
a year for up to £200 in matched<br />
giving for any registered charity<br />
or good cause. You can also apply<br />
for grants up to £200 to help stage<br />
a fundraising event.<br />
You can also donate through<br />
payroll giving. If you pledge £1<br />
from your pay every week, it will<br />
cost you 80p; or if you pledge<br />
£4 from your salary each month,<br />
it will cost you £3.60 (based on<br />
those paying 20% tax).<br />
The business will automatically<br />
match any donation you make<br />
The weight is over... Lee Briers (left) and Lee Campbell tone up in the gym<br />
Gym and<br />
tonic<br />
by Ben Mccormick<br />
Challenge Cup-winning Warrington<br />
Wolves rugby league<br />
player Lee Briers was guest<br />
of honour at the opening of a<br />
t<br />
to Prostate Cancer UK. So, if you<br />
pledge £1 a week, we will do<br />
the same. This means that while<br />
only 80p is deducted from your<br />
pay, over the course of a year the<br />
charity will receive more than<br />
£100 from you.<br />
And get<br />
information<br />
about payroll<br />
giving by<br />
scanning this<br />
code<br />
scaN<br />
WITH YOUR<br />
SMARTPHONE TO<br />
See full details<br />
of matched<br />
giving at myroyal<br />
mail.com<br />
Arthur’s story<br />
Arthur Spurling worked for<br />
Royal Mail for 25 years, ending up<br />
as motor transport auditor for<br />
Scotland and Northern Ireland<br />
before he retired in 1994. Two<br />
years ago, he was diagnosed with<br />
prostate cancer, and he has just<br />
been given the all-clear...<br />
‘I found out two days before my wife<br />
and I were going to New York for a<br />
wedding,’ says Arthur.<br />
‘I’d had a bladder problem, which<br />
turned out to be just an infection, but<br />
they asked if I had any other problems,<br />
so I mentioned the time it took me to<br />
go to the loo (my waterworks). They<br />
gave me a rectal examination. I then<br />
had a blood test to check my PSA<br />
levels (prostate specific antigen) – 5.5,<br />
higher than normal. They booked me in<br />
for a biopsy the next week.<br />
‘I was concerned. Who thinks they<br />
might get cancer? I certainly didn’t – to<br />
me, cancer meant dying.<br />
Treatments<br />
‘Two days before the trip, the specialist<br />
nurse told me they’d found cancer of the<br />
prostate, but there are several<br />
treatments available if it’s caught in time.<br />
They said to enjoy the holiday and come<br />
back to the hospital when I got back.<br />
‘They gave me loads of pamphlets<br />
about the treatment options. One I<br />
disregarded immediately was<br />
brachytherapy, where radioactive<br />
isotopes are inserted into the affected<br />
area. I’d done military training as a<br />
nuclear, biological and chemical<br />
warfare officer – I thought there’s no<br />
way I am having that. But there were<br />
plenty of other options to think about.<br />
‘Our friends’ daughter, a doctor, was<br />
new state-of-the-art gym at<br />
Warrington mail centre.<br />
Installed and run by contractor<br />
Energy Fitness Professionals, the<br />
fully equipped facility is open to<br />
all mail centre employees and<br />
colleagues from nearby delivery<br />
offices.<br />
For just £3.50 a week, members<br />
have unlimited use of the gym, get<br />
a full fitness assessment and personal<br />
exercise programme. Fitness<br />
classes and treatments will become<br />
available.<br />
marrying another doctor, so<br />
nearly every guest at the wedding was a<br />
doctor. I got chatting to an oncologist. I<br />
asked which treatment he’d recommend<br />
– he said brachytherapy. He said he<br />
treated a former president who had<br />
lived for more than 20 years since his<br />
treatment and was still alive at 80. But<br />
brachytherapy was still a no-no for me.<br />
Coincidence<br />
Have<br />
you, or a loved<br />
one, experienced<br />
prostate cancer? If you’d be<br />
willing to share your story<br />
with readers, email courier@<br />
abcomm.co.uk or call 020<br />
7922 5670<br />
‘Then my wife was leafing through the<br />
in-flight magazine on the plane, and<br />
there was a feature about brachytherapy.<br />
This was all too much of a coincidence!<br />
It made up my mind for me.<br />
‘Back home, I had further<br />
counselling with the excellent specialist<br />
nurse. I asked him how common this<br />
cancer is in men, and he said almost<br />
every man over 60 will have prostate<br />
cancer to some degree.<br />
‘The brachytherapy involved staying<br />
in hospital overnight with a general<br />
anaesthetic and 132 beads of iodine<br />
radioactive isotopes inserted into the<br />
prostate.<br />
‘On 18 August this year, I was told<br />
my PSA is now down to 0.2 and there<br />
is no sign of cancer. All other areas –<br />
including the physical side of married<br />
life! – are fine too.<br />
‘It just takes one blood test to<br />
determine prostate cancer. All of us<br />
men can have a blood test at our GP or<br />
Well Man clinic.<br />
‘Prostate cancer is slow-growing and<br />
has no pain – it’s definitely a secret<br />
cancer. If you can’t pass water like you<br />
used to, or you get out of bed more than<br />
normal to go to the loo at night, just ask<br />
to get your PSA levels tested. Do it before<br />
it’s too late to treat. Please don’t be too<br />
frightened. That one small question<br />
could save your life.’<br />
‘I’ve been pestering the site<br />
manager about the gym for ages, so<br />
I’m delighted it’s now open,’ says<br />
distribution driver Lee Campbell.<br />
’I’ve already had my assessment<br />
and am looking forward to using<br />
the free weights and the running<br />
machines here to keep my fitness<br />
levels up.’<br />
Royal Mail is refurbishing gyms and renewing<br />
equipment as part of an improvement<br />
programme to encourage staff to stay active.<br />
It will also be running national inter-gym<br />
competitions, and the next one will be an<br />
individual ‘Olympics’. We’ll keep you posted.
16 <strong>September</strong> <strong>2012</strong> email courier@abcomm.co.uk<br />
For daily news, visit <strong>myroyalmail</strong>.com Watch weekly<br />
Follow us on @RM_COURIER <strong>September</strong> <strong>2012</strong> 17<br />
competitor watch<br />
What are our competitors doing?<br />
• Hermes couriers have recently launched<br />
a new collection option. If customers<br />
don’t have time to wait in for the<br />
courier to call, they can opt to avoid<br />
courier collections and have the parcel<br />
dropped off at a local store.<br />
• APC Overnight has been named as one<br />
of Britain’s top-performing private<br />
companies in the Sunday Times<br />
Profit Track 100 listings, measuring<br />
growth between 2008 and 2011. APC<br />
Overnight’s 55% growth over the period<br />
is attributed to restructuring and<br />
efficiency savings.<br />
• UK Mail Group has picked up another<br />
National Health Service mail contract<br />
for its hybrid mail service imail – a<br />
combination of electronic and physical<br />
items. It will be delivering more than<br />
a million sensitive items each year for<br />
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust.<br />
THat was the month that was on <strong>myroyalmail</strong>.com<br />
What you may have missed on your employee website...<br />
MP gets first class experience<br />
Postman Michael Fleming was joined on his<br />
delivery round in Blairgowrie by John Swinney,<br />
Perthshire North MSP and Scottish cabinet<br />
secretary for finance, employment and sustainable<br />
growth.<br />
Lovejoy ‘loving’ our postboxes<br />
On song... the choir in action<br />
and (inset) choirmaster Gareth Malone<br />
I’d never sung in public before,<br />
except when doing karaoke!<br />
Hitting the right note<br />
Colleagues could be They will sing head-tohead<br />
Logistics director Tim<br />
singing their way to stardom<br />
against choirs from Barber adds: ‘I’d never<br />
in a new BBC series other organisations including<br />
sung in public before,<br />
Sing While You Work.<br />
the NHS.<br />
except when doing karaoke!<br />
It’s masterminded by Hallatrow postwoman It was more technical than I<br />
Gareth Malone, who was Penny Barr says: ‘It was thought.<br />
behind the successful amazing, mad, tiring, ‘What surprised me was<br />
series The Choir.<br />
He helped establish and<br />
nurture a Royal Mail choir<br />
surprising and really emotional.<br />
The singing gave me<br />
goosebumps.<br />
how powerful a force we<br />
became through our skills<br />
development and working<br />
including postmen and ‘It was also really interesting<br />
together.’<br />
women, drivers, warehouse<br />
to see our organisa-<br />
The series is on BBC2<br />
staff, administrators and tion from everyone else’s on Thursdays at 9pm until<br />
directors in the Bristol area. perspective.’<br />
25 October.<br />
Customer corner<br />
For<br />
Goodnesse<br />
sake!<br />
Sweet success... Martin<br />
collects a packed mailbag<br />
from Goodnesse director Andrew<br />
by Hilary Robertson<br />
The internet is enabling<br />
many small businesses to<br />
grow by selling to customers<br />
without the need for a<br />
shop. But they still rely on<br />
a trusted supplier to deliver<br />
their goods.<br />
Last year’s financial results<br />
show that parcels now account<br />
for 48% of our Group revenues,<br />
which is set to grow if we can get<br />
this part of our operation right.<br />
Woking collections driver Martin<br />
Coote is doing his bit. He’s<br />
been collecting from Goodnesse<br />
– the company behind ohso probiotic<br />
chocolate. They rely on us<br />
to provide regular subscribers<br />
with their healthy probiotic treat.<br />
Boosting business<br />
Martin says he has seen an increase<br />
in the number of packets<br />
going out.<br />
He adds: ‘After the first few<br />
days, I realised they had other<br />
post that they weren’t giving<br />
to me, so I explained that I can<br />
take anything that is going out.<br />
So now I regularly take standard<br />
post and even Priority mail,<br />
as well as their increasing number<br />
of packets. I think that helps<br />
them out in the afternoons.’<br />
t<br />
One of the directors of Goodnesse,<br />
Andrew Marten, says:<br />
‘Probiotics is a growth market in<br />
the UK and around the world.<br />
We’re the biggest retailer of probiotic<br />
chocolate and are looking<br />
to spread wider in the UK and<br />
globally.<br />
‘We only began trading on<br />
1 January <strong>2012</strong> and already we<br />
are sending out 2,500 packets<br />
by First Class mail every month.<br />
That figure is growing and we’re<br />
expecting to reach 30,000 packets<br />
by the end of the year.’<br />
Popular product<br />
With coverage in magazines<br />
and newspapers across the UK,<br />
ohso chocolate is reaching more<br />
people every month. Andrew<br />
says: ‘Our customers are chocolate<br />
lovers, often those who<br />
want to lose weight or want a<br />
healthy lifestyle.’<br />
We’ll have to convince them<br />
of the power of a door drop too!<br />
Andrew Williams is Royal<br />
Mail’s sales manager looking<br />
after Goodnesse. ‘It’s an exciting<br />
new business and we’re pleased<br />
they came to us for distribution,’<br />
he says.<br />
‘Subscribers drive their product<br />
and they need to rely on our<br />
services to grow their business.’<br />
Perth<br />
performs<br />
We just missed our target for First<br />
Class mail in the latest Quality of<br />
Service results.<br />
92.9% of First Class mail was delivered<br />
the next working day, against a target of<br />
93%.<br />
However, we delivered 98.6% of Second<br />
Class mail three working days after<br />
posting, beating the 98.5% target set by<br />
our regulator. We also exceeded our<br />
Standard Retail Parcels 90.0% target, with<br />
a 97.1% performance.<br />
The highest First Class stamped and<br />
metered mail performers were in the<br />
Perth (PH) postcode, with a 97.0% performance,<br />
with Carlisle (CA) and Llandrindod<br />
Wells hot on their heels with 96.7%.<br />
The UK has one of the toughest sets of<br />
quality targets in Europe.<br />
Television presenter Tim Lovejoy is a fan of<br />
our gold postboxes and was pictured with one,<br />
alongside RMTV producer Adilla Immambocus,<br />
in south-west London.<br />
Ex-footballers help Hull get healthy<br />
Colleagues at Hull City delivery office, along<br />
with three ex-professional footballers, are championing<br />
the use of a Body Composition Analyser<br />
machine, which is touring the north-east as part<br />
of our health fairs roadshow.<br />
South East celebrates long service<br />
Colleagues across the south-east celebrated<br />
their long service with a special event at Lingfield<br />
Racecourse. Collectively, the group has<br />
achieved a whopping 4,630 years’ service.<br />
Got a smartphone?<br />
Scan the codes to catch up on what you’ve missed<br />
Label conscious<br />
Did you know we<br />
Print works... Shirley Minns prints<br />
produce 25 million<br />
bundle labels at Peterborough<br />
operational labels<br />
every month?<br />
As part of our modernisation<br />
project, that job<br />
has been consolidated<br />
in two sites – improving<br />
efficiency and helping to<br />
secure 18 jobs.<br />
Labels were previously<br />
printed at 47 mail centres<br />
and two regional distribution<br />
centres, but the printers<br />
were coming to the<br />
end of their working lives.<br />
Print sites manager<br />
Stuart Chatman says: ‘All<br />
the mail centres have successfully<br />
transferred printing<br />
to the two new sites<br />
– based in Sheffield and<br />
Peterborough – over the<br />
last eight months.<br />
‘Not only has this move<br />
safeguarded jobs at both<br />
sites, but it has made<br />
our label printing more<br />
efficient, with all labels<br />
now sent out within five<br />
days, and reduced the<br />
amount of stock we store.’<br />
©Disney<br />
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18 <strong>September</strong> <strong>2012</strong> email courier@abcomm.co.uk<br />
For daily news, visit <strong>myroyalmail</strong>.com Watch weekly<br />
Follow us on @RM_COURIER <strong>September</strong> <strong>2012</strong> 19<br />
Contacts<br />
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email watch&win@royalmail.<br />
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on 01788 514666 (Postline<br />
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jolliffe@royalmail.com<br />
Welsh dragon makes flying start<br />
by Gary Moss<br />
Abergavenny delivery<br />
office postman Roger<br />
Dommett may never do<br />
an easier day’s work in<br />
his life.<br />
He struck gold straight<br />
away on the Watch&Win<br />
reward scheme. Roger filled<br />
in a spotter’s card to recommend<br />
a designer clothing<br />
company, W M Nicholls,<br />
that could benefit from delivering<br />
with us.<br />
Before he even received<br />
his scheme welcome pack,<br />
Roger had been entered<br />
into the normal monthly<br />
prize draw for submitting a<br />
qualified lead, and was<br />
pulled out as a winner.<br />
Delighted Roger says: ‘This<br />
took five minutes of my time,<br />
and now I’m £250 richer. It<br />
was beginner’s luck, I suppose.<br />
‘I’d heard that a few<br />
colleagues in my office had<br />
submitted leads so I thought<br />
I would give it a go.<br />
‘I’ve got a few more<br />
ideas of companies I might<br />
recommend, but I’ll be<br />
keeping my eyes open for<br />
potential leads as well.’<br />
court in the act<br />
Our regular round-up of convictions across the<br />
country. Phil Gerrish, our director of investigations,<br />
says: ‘If you act dishonestly and steal or<br />
interfere with the mail then you will be caught and<br />
prosecuted. It affects our customers and it harms<br />
our reputation. The courts see it as a major breach<br />
of trust in a highly respected and vital organisation.<br />
There is a high chance you will go to prison.’<br />
Reflecting on success... Roger won rapid rewards<br />
Vital Capitao MAKENGO, a<br />
postman at East London distribution<br />
centre, stole 25 postal packets containing<br />
business cheques. Makengo pleaded<br />
guilty to three charges of theft at Basildon<br />
Crown Court on 27 July <strong>2012</strong> and was<br />
sentenced to 13 months’ imprisonment<br />
on each charge, to run concurrently.<br />
Craig PRIDEY, a postman from<br />
Lymington delivery office who stole postal<br />
packets containing cheque books, pleaded<br />
guilty to two charges of theft at<br />
Scan this<br />
code with your<br />
smartphone to<br />
visit the Watch<br />
& Win website<br />
Fancy cashing in through Watch&Win? Call 0800 032 1144<br />
or email watch&win@royalmail.com for more information<br />
Southampton Crown Court on 9 July <strong>2012</strong>.<br />
He was sentenced to four months’<br />
imprisonment.<br />
Robert Edward Oneyebuchi<br />
UMERAH, a postman from Orpington<br />
delivery office, stole more than 500 postal<br />
packets, including items containing cash,<br />
DVDs and computer consoles. He pleaded<br />
guilty to three charges of theft at Bromley<br />
Magistrates’ Court on 17 August <strong>2012</strong> and<br />
was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment<br />
on each charge, to run concurrently.<br />
It wasn’t all about the Olympics this summer, as these other sporting greats show!<br />
Picture: Jason Steel<br />
THe flying scotsman<br />
Age proved no barrier for<br />
Glasgow postman Andrew<br />
McLinden, who stormed to victory<br />
in the over-60s category of<br />
the world championships halfmarathon<br />
in Finland.<br />
Andrew, 61, completed the course<br />
in 1hr 20mins – more than a minute<br />
ahead of his nearest rival.<br />
‘With a couple of miles left, a few<br />
people told me I had a healthy lead,’<br />
says Andrew, who’s the top-ranking<br />
British athlete. ‘It was a great feeling<br />
crossing the line. It’s nice to be a world<br />
Miles better... Andrew is a world champion<br />
champion – even at my age!’<br />
It’s a knockout<br />
Erith postman Craig<br />
Edwards has become the<br />
London middleweight boxing<br />
champion after knocking<br />
out the defending<br />
champion in a record 33<br />
seconds.<br />
Craig says the fight was<br />
amazing and was surprised he<br />
won. ‘I believed I could win but<br />
I didn’t expect to win like that!<br />
Everyone in the stadium was<br />
on their feet and I think they<br />
were a bit shocked as well.’<br />
Having started boxing at a<br />
gym in Islington with his uncle<br />
at 16, Craig moved to Finchley<br />
ABC where, he says, he<br />
was moulded and fast-tracked<br />
to become a pro.<br />
‘The Olympics have definitely<br />
inspired me,’ says Craig.<br />
‘I trained alongside Anthony<br />
Joshua (who won gold in the<br />
men’s super heavyweight boxing)<br />
at Finchley ABC. What he<br />
has achieved is amazing and I<br />
hope it inspires others to get<br />
into the sport.’<br />
Watch Craig’s fight on<br />
YouTube: www.youtube.com/<br />
watch?v=6B8AXJ4vhSg<br />
t<br />
■ club class<br />
Among the best… councillor Liam Robinson,<br />
Neil, British Judo Association official<br />
Jean Knowles and local MP Luciana Berger<br />
celebrate the club’s nomination<br />
■ bowling ’em over<br />
Birkenhead delivery office has a<br />
champion in its midst – postman<br />
Robbie Fitzpatrick won the Isle of<br />
Man Crown Green Bowls Festival after<br />
20 years of trying.<br />
Robbie says: ‘I’ve been striving to win this<br />
for so many years. It’s the biggest crown<br />
green tournament and I was really pleased<br />
to beat former winner Dave Jackson 21-14.’<br />
Every week, Robbie plays for Wirral<br />
teams and also drives to Yorkshire to play<br />
in the Yorkshire leagues. ‘This is a sport I<br />
love,’ he says. ‘This latest win fulfils a<br />
major dream of mine.’<br />
A judo club has won a prestigious<br />
accolade thanks in no small measure<br />
to postman Neil Anderson.<br />
Neil, from Woolton delivery office<br />
in Liverpool, is senior club coach at<br />
AYAC judo club in the city, which was<br />
nominated for the Club of the Year title<br />
by the British Judo Association.<br />
‘We’re one of only 25 clubs nominated<br />
out of more than 800 across the<br />
country, and only six in the northwest,’<br />
says Neil.<br />
‘It’s a fantastic achievement for the<br />
club.’<br />
Neil’s been doing judo for 22 years.<br />
He is a black belt second dan and the<br />
county coach for Merseyside.’<br />
Proud… Robbie with his prized cup<br />
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Models shown: Corsa Limited Edition 1.2i 16v VVT 3dr and Astra Active 1.4i 16v VVT (100PS) with Brilliant Paint, available at extra cost. *Not available on Expression, ES, Vauxhall Tech Line, Ampera, New Astra Hatchback/SportsTourer Bi Turbo and VXR8 models. Finance subject to<br />
status. Terms and conditions apply. Applicants must be 18 or over. Guarantee/Indemnity may be required. Finance supplied by either Vauxhall Motor Finance RH1 1SR or Vauxhall Finance, PO Box 6666, Cardiff, CF15 7YT. Offer applies to private individuals, Vauxhall Partners and small<br />
businesses 1-24 (purchase only excluding B2B). All other customers are excluded. Offer available on orders or registrations before 1 October <strong>2012</strong>. **Vauxhall Deposit Contribution available on selected car lines only. ˆCustomer deposit shown after Vauxhall contribution. ≠Astra<br />
Active 5dr (incl. Active Limited Edition) £1000 Additional Customer Saving offer applies to private individuals, Vauxhall Partners and small businesses 1-24 (purchase only excluding B2B). All other customers are excluded. Offer available on orders or registrations from 3 July <strong>2012</strong><br />
to 1 October <strong>2012</strong>. †Terms and conditions apply. Vauxhall Partners includes all employees and pensioners of nominated companies and their nominated eligible Vauxhall relatives. Vauxhall Partners process/savings include Vauxhall Partners discount savings and additional customer<br />
savings (incl. VAT) where applicable, number plates, delivery, Vehicle Excise Duty and a first registration fee. Excludes fuel and insurance. We reserve the right to change or withdraw any aspect of the Vauxhall Partners Programme without prior notice.<br />
Official Government Test Environmental Data. Fuel consumption figures mpg (litres/100km) and CO 2 emissions (g/km). Vauxhall range (excl. Ampera): Urban: 14.4 (19.6) - 67.3 (4.2), Extra-urban:<br />
27.4 (10.3) - 91.1 (3.1), Combined: 20.6 (13.7) - 80.7 (3.5). CO 2 emissions: 324 - 94g/km.<br />
1<br />
2<br />
3<br />
PLUS<br />
Choose your deposit **<br />
Choose your term<br />
Lifetime warranty †<br />
1 MONTH<br />
FREE*<br />
when you join in <strong>September</strong><br />
on a 12 month contract<br />
Enjoy corporate membership FOR Less!<br />
More reasons to join<br />
DaviD LLOyD LeisuRe<br />
• Joining fee discount<br />
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or visit davidlloyd.co.uk/employeeoffer<br />
Terms and conditions apply. Facilities fees, classes and membership contracts vary by club. Certain activities may incur<br />
additional fees. *One month free when you join by 30 th <strong>September</strong> <strong>2012</strong>.<br />
5675 Sept Corp Mem Ad 141.5x260mm.indd 1 22/08/<strong>2012</strong> 14:30
20 <strong>September</strong> <strong>2012</strong> email courier@abcomm.co.uk<br />
For daily news, visit <strong>myroyalmail</strong>.com Watch weekly<br />
Follow us on @RM_COURIER <strong>September</strong> <strong>2012</strong> 21<br />
general<br />
<strong>Courier</strong><br />
terms & conditions<br />
Unless otherwise stated, the<br />
following terms and conditions<br />
apply: 1. Prize draws and<br />
competitions are open only to<br />
<strong>Courier</strong> readers who are UKbased<br />
Royal Mail employees<br />
over the age of 18 or UKbased<br />
Royal Mail pensioners.<br />
2. Closing date for receipt of<br />
entries is Friday 19 October<br />
<strong>2012</strong> (unless otherwise stated).<br />
Only one entry per person.<br />
No third party or bulk entries.<br />
Entries must include entrant’s<br />
name, home address and<br />
contact details such as telephone<br />
number or email address.<br />
3. No responsibility can<br />
be accepted for entries incomplete,<br />
delayed, wrongly<br />
delivered, damaged or not received<br />
for any reason. Proof<br />
of posting is not proof of receipt.<br />
4. Prizes must be accepted<br />
as offered and are<br />
subject to availability. No cash<br />
alternative or cash difference<br />
will be offered and prizes are<br />
not transferable. Values of<br />
prizes correct at time of going<br />
to press. 5. Winners will be<br />
notified by post 28 days after<br />
closing date. 6. Winners of<br />
prize draws are the first<br />
names drawn at random or<br />
the first correct entry drawn at<br />
random by an independent<br />
person after the closing date.<br />
7. If a prize is not claimed<br />
within three months of the<br />
closing date, a redraw will<br />
take place. 8. Promoter’s decision<br />
is final. No correspondence<br />
will be entered into. 9.<br />
Entry implies acceptance of<br />
these rules. 10. The promoter<br />
reserves the right to substitute<br />
a prize of equal or greater value,<br />
if necessary. 11. Winners’<br />
details are available 28 days<br />
after closing date. Send an<br />
SAE marked Prize Draw/<br />
Competition Results to <strong>Courier</strong>,<br />
AB Publishing Ltd, 24-26<br />
Great Suffolk Street, London<br />
SE1 0UE. 12. Winners may be<br />
required to take part in publicity<br />
for promotions. 13. Promoter<br />
is Royal Mail Group<br />
Ltd, 100 Victoria Embankment,<br />
London EC4Y 0HQ. 14.<br />
Neither AB Publishing Ltd or<br />
Royal Mail are responsible for<br />
any third party direct marketing<br />
or third party offers or services.<br />
15. Prize supplier may<br />
want to contact you directly<br />
for marketing purposes. If you<br />
would like to unsubscribe<br />
from marketing mail, please<br />
contact prize supplier directly.<br />
If you do not want to receive<br />
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post, please write ‘no’ on your<br />
postal entry. If you do want to<br />
receive information from the<br />
prize supplier and you enter by<br />
email, please write ‘yes’ in the<br />
subject line of your email entry.<br />
Our prize is<br />
an Olympus<br />
VG-170<br />
featuring 14<br />
megapixels,<br />
5x wide<br />
optical<br />
zoom,<br />
720p HD<br />
movie and<br />
7.6cm/3.0”<br />
colour LCD.<br />
■ Send your<br />
snaps to<br />
courierphotos<br />
@abcomm.<br />
co.uk or<br />
post to<br />
<strong>Courier</strong> photo<br />
competition,<br />
24-26 Great<br />
Suffolk Street,<br />
London SE1<br />
0UE. Please<br />
include your<br />
home<br />
address.<br />
win!<br />
You’ve been framed<br />
It’s an Olympics special this issue!<br />
Winner Paul Simons was lucky enough to watch Mo<br />
Farah’s 5,000m victory at the Olympic Stadium. But Paul,<br />
postman at Oldham delivery office and one of <strong>Courier</strong>’s<br />
previous guest editors, took a spot of light reading with him<br />
in case the sporting action wasn’t enough.<br />
Dave Hoskin, postman at Bodmin delivery office,<br />
took a well-earned rest after he had run with the<br />
Olympic torch through Bugle, Cornwall.<br />
Torchbearer Pauline Eastment, postwoman at St<br />
Athan, paused for pictures outside the Millennium<br />
Centre, Cardiff Bay, shortly after completing her leg of<br />
the Olympic Torch Relay in Barry. We like her clever<br />
use of <strong>Courier</strong>!<br />
And Graham Clarkson from Medway mail centre<br />
caught up with <strong>Courier</strong> on a break from his Games Maker<br />
driving duties in the Paralympic Games.<br />
Dave Hoskin<br />
You could be<br />
enjoying all the multimedia<br />
benefits of a<br />
smart TV courtesy of <strong>Courier</strong>.<br />
We have five Samsung Smart TVs<br />
to give away.<br />
This sleek 22-inch TV boasts full<br />
high definition, built-in wi-fi so you<br />
can access Facebook or stream movies<br />
without messy cables, USB playback,<br />
integrated Freeview and the<br />
BBC sports app that puts you at the<br />
Smart move<br />
Pauline Eastment<br />
heart of the action.<br />
All you have to do to be in with<br />
a chance of winning one is answer<br />
the following question and send your<br />
answer to couriercompetitions@<br />
abcomm.co.uk putting TV competition<br />
in the subject header, or on a<br />
postcard to TV competition, 24-26<br />
Great Suffolk Street, London SE1<br />
0UE by 19 October <strong>2012</strong>. Please include<br />
your name, contact number<br />
and home address with your entry.<br />
WINner!<br />
Paul Simons<br />
Graham Clarkson<br />
Q: Who is widely<br />
credited with<br />
inventing television?<br />
Helping you<br />
get healthy<br />
Win a three-month membership* at<br />
your local David Lloyd club!<br />
In today’s busy world, it’s no wonder<br />
that health and fitness sometimes take a<br />
back seat. That’s why David Lloyd is giving<br />
THREE people the chance to win a<br />
three-month membership at their local<br />
David Lloyd club.<br />
Whether you’re a keen sports enthusiast<br />
already or a more laid-back leisure<br />
seeker who likes to take a dabble now<br />
and again, there’s a place that offers a haven<br />
of health and fitness activities under<br />
one roof – providing a plethora of timetabled<br />
classes to slot into your busy life.<br />
David Lloyd Leisure offers something<br />
for everyone, whether it’s gentle exercise<br />
you’re after or working up a sweat. Each<br />
David Lloyd club runs a full programme<br />
of classes and training sessions catering<br />
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classes.<br />
Simply visit www.davidlloyd.co.uk/<br />
royalmail to enter the competition – you<br />
will receive a complimentary day pass to<br />
experience your local David Lloyd club.<br />
The David Lloyd Leisure Group operates<br />
80 clubs in the UK and a further 10<br />
clubs across Europe, with some 12,500<br />
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* Terms and conditions apply – please see website for full details<br />
win!<br />
UNFORGETTABLE<br />
YEAR AHEAD<br />
Going Logo<br />
Postal artistry was a keen<br />
and successful pursuit for<br />
MacDonald Gill.<br />
He redesigned the iconic<br />
logo for the General Post<br />
Office (GPO) in 1934, one of<br />
the first examples of branding.<br />
The Brighton-born mural<br />
painter, architect, letterer and<br />
graphic artist was also an accomplished<br />
decorative mapmaker.<br />
He created an elaborate,<br />
complex map of mail steamship<br />
routes in 1937, including<br />
a wealth of cartographic information<br />
and typography.<br />
It depicts the Royal Mail<br />
steamship routes that carried<br />
most of the UK’s international<br />
mail during the 1930s, framed<br />
by illustrations of transport<br />
links through which the post<br />
would pass.<br />
The British Postal Museum<br />
& Archive (BPMA) has a reproduction<br />
of the map for sale.<br />
It comes folded in a wallet,<br />
accompanied by an introduction<br />
by BPMA curator Julian Stray.<br />
t<br />
from the archive<br />
Thanks for<br />
the memories<br />
Our final Olympic and<br />
Olympic Stadium in the background.<br />
Paralympic stamps are on sale The Paralympic Games feature<br />
on 27 <strong>September</strong>.<br />
on two stamps, with images from<br />
‘Memories of London <strong>2012</strong>’ are the opening ceremony and<br />
four stamps reviewing iconic ParalympicsGB procession into the<br />
moments from both the Olympic stadium.<br />
and Paralympic Games.<br />
The fourth stamp shows a scene<br />
One of the stamps highlights the from the closing ceremony of the<br />
role of the 70,000 Games Makers, Olympic Games.<br />
featuring a group of volunteers, in<br />
their distinctive purple and red<br />
Visit royalmail.com/memories<br />
uniforms, with the iconic<br />
Reader<br />
offer<br />
Get your copy<br />
of MacDonald<br />
Gill’s Map of Mail<br />
Steamship Routes<br />
from the BPMA for<br />
£9.99 (+£3.50 postage<br />
and packaging within the<br />
UK).<br />
Visit wwwpostalheritage.<br />
org.uk/page/publications<br />
-steamshipmap, call<br />
020 7239 5125 or send a<br />
cheque made payable to<br />
‘Postal Heritage Services’<br />
to: Product Sales, The<br />
British Postal Museum &<br />
Archive, Freeling House,<br />
Phoenix Place, London<br />
WC1X 0DL.<br />
A good moo-ve<br />
Traditional breeds of British<br />
cattle feature in the latest in our<br />
British Farm Animals series of<br />
Post & Go stamps.<br />
Out on 28 <strong>September</strong>, the stamps<br />
showcase six breeds, including Aberdeen<br />
Angus and Highland.<br />
The one4all Crossword<br />
Bag yourself a £10 One4all gift card<br />
in our crossword competition<br />
1<br />
6<br />
2 3 4 5<br />
7 8 9<br />
Name<br />
We have 10 £10 gift cards up for grabs. Once again you’ll find some help<br />
with your answers to this issue’s crossword within the pages of this issue of<br />
<strong>Courier</strong>. Post your entry to <strong>September</strong> crossword, 24-26 Great Suffolk Street, London SE1<br />
0UE to arrive by 19 October <strong>2012</strong>. See above left for full terms and conditions.<br />
10<br />
12<br />
15<br />
18<br />
16<br />
11<br />
13<br />
17<br />
19<br />
14<br />
Home Address<br />
Postcode<br />
clues<br />
Across<br />
3. We will trade in this country as<br />
Euro Business Parcel (5)<br />
6. And 2 Down. British swimming<br />
sensation at the <strong>2012</strong> Paralympics<br />
(5,8)<br />
8. It shows tiredness or boredom (4)<br />
10. Mark, our Olympics director (7)<br />
11. Drawer for money (4)<br />
12. Brass instrument (6)<br />
13. Sword used in Olympic and<br />
Paralympic fencing (4)<br />
15. Work is almost complete on this<br />
Nottinghamshire delivery office (7)<br />
17. And 7 Down. These helped to<br />
promote Royal Mail’s involvement in<br />
the <strong>2012</strong> Olympic and Paralympic<br />
Games (4,9)<br />
18. See 11 Down<br />
19. Country that won most gold<br />
medals at the <strong>2012</strong> Olympic<br />
Games (3)<br />
Down<br />
1. <strong>2012</strong> has been the _____<br />
summer of sport ever (4)<br />
2. See 6 Across<br />
4. Cyclist who now has a record six<br />
Olympic gold medals…(3)<br />
5. …and the British sailor who has<br />
won a gold medal at the last four<br />
Olympic Games (7)<br />
7. See 17 Across<br />
9. Boxer who lit the flame at the<br />
1996 Olympics in Atlanta (3)<br />
11. And 18 Across. Shakespeare<br />
play which was the inspiration for<br />
the opening ceremony of the <strong>2012</strong><br />
Paralympics (3,7)<br />
12. Silvery-white magnetic metal (6)<br />
14. This New York island used to be<br />
an entry point for immigrants (5)<br />
16. Dutch cheese (4)<br />
June’s answers<br />
Across 5 Joseph. 6 Oath.<br />
7 Cancer UK. 8 Burgess Hill.<br />
12 Prostate. 14 Appeal.<br />
16 Dickens. 17 Salad.<br />
Down 1 USA. 2 Update.<br />
3 Joseph. 4 The Killers. 5<br />
Jailbreak. 9 Gape. 10 Stolid. 11<br />
Images. 13 RADA. 15 Pea.
22 <strong>September</strong> <strong>2012</strong> email courier@abcomm.co.uk<br />
For daily news, visit <strong>myroyalmail</strong>.com Watch weekly<br />
Follow us on @RM_COURIER <strong>September</strong> <strong>2012</strong> 23<br />
More of your fundraising feats, including a tough challenge in aid of our charity partner Prostate Cancer UK<br />
Conquering Kilimanjaro<br />
Mountain to climb… Lisa is training hard<br />
Intrepid Lisa Rohan is swapping Kent<br />
for Kilimanjaro to raise cash for Prostate<br />
Cancer UK. She’ll tackle the challenging<br />
trek up the 20,000ft mountain<br />
in Tanzania in January.<br />
‘I’m 43 and have never done anything like<br />
this before! But I’m looking forward to taking<br />
it on,’ says Lisa, from Tonbridge delivery<br />
office’s book room. ‘As well as training, I’m<br />
organising several fundraising events, and it<br />
would be great to have as much support from<br />
friends and colleagues as possible.<br />
‘I wanted to raise funds for prostate cancer<br />
as I work in such a male-dominated environment.<br />
It’s great that I’ll also be able to get<br />
French<br />
connection<br />
Chester-based HR investigator<br />
Neil Donovan cycled 325 miles from<br />
London to Paris to raise cash for Action<br />
Medical Research.<br />
‘This is definitely the hardest thing I have<br />
ever attempted,’ he says. ‘We cycled more<br />
than 14,600ft of ascents – equivalent to half<br />
of Everest.<br />
match funding from Royal Mail up to £2,500.’<br />
Prostate Cancer UK is our Charity of the<br />
Year, so penny for penny match funding of<br />
up to £2,500 per person per year is available.<br />
Currently there are 250,000 men living with<br />
prostate cancer – it’s the most common cancer<br />
in men in the UK.<br />
If you would like to<br />
sponsor Lisa, go to her<br />
sponsorship page at www.<br />
sponsorme.co.uk/lisaro<br />
han/kilimanjaro-trek.aspx<br />
and gift aid any donations<br />
so we can raise another<br />
25p per £1 for the charity.<br />
Scan with your<br />
smartphone to<br />
donate<br />
‘On the way to Paris we rode through the<br />
Valley of the Somme and stopped at a number<br />
of First World War memorials, which<br />
were very poignant. After reading and seeing<br />
first-hand what those people went through,<br />
the cycling didn’t seem quite so hard.’<br />
An added bonus for Neil was arriving<br />
in time to see the final stage of the Tour de<br />
France as Bradley Wiggins won.<br />
‘I have had some wonderful support and to<br />
date I have managed to raise more than £1,500<br />
for Action Medical Research, most of which has<br />
come from my colleagues at Royal Mail, along<br />
with match funding from the business.’<br />
Help for little<br />
harbour<br />
Keith Routcliffe, work area manager<br />
at Exeter mail centre, ran the Plymouth<br />
half-marathon for Little Harbour, a new<br />
children’s hospice in St Austell.<br />
‘I raised £542 and Royal Mail gave me<br />
an extra £200 of match-funding,’ says<br />
Keith. ‘It was an honour to go to the<br />
hospice and collect my certificate.’<br />
Fundraising to a tee<br />
Hospice helper… Keith tackled a half-marathon<br />
Tee totallers… Phil (left) and the<br />
rest of the Chesfield Chappies<br />
midway through their challenge<br />
Hitchin delivery office<br />
manager Phil Chester<br />
was one of a team of four<br />
who raised nearly £3,000<br />
for Macmillan Cancer<br />
Support in the Longest<br />
Day golf challenge.<br />
‘We played two rounds on<br />
two courses, starting before<br />
5am,’ says Phil. ‘We walked<br />
around 28 miles in the day<br />
and each hit 340 golf shots.<br />
In the end, we scored a total<br />
of 330 points, 42 under par<br />
for our handicaps.<br />
‘We are all so grateful<br />
to our sponsors who<br />
made the day possible and<br />
all our friends and colleagues<br />
who generously<br />
dug deep into their pockets<br />
for such a worthy cause.’<br />
Money-saving offers and help when you need it Key: Employees only Employees and pensioners<br />
CARS<br />
Affinity Leasing<br />
Up to 45% off a new car.<br />
User name: royal Password: MAIL<br />
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Blackcircles Tyres<br />
Save money on new tyres and car servicing.<br />
Quote: EDROYAL215.<br />
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Hollyfield Benefits<br />
Discounts on car servicing,<br />
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Tel: 0845 130 6001<br />
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RAC<br />
Get 50% off new breakdown cover.<br />
Quote: EBS001.<br />
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Vauxhall Partners<br />
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Discounts on a wide range of new Vauxhall<br />
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HEALTH<br />
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CS Healthcare<br />
Build a healthcare plan to suit you.<br />
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Simplyhealth<br />
Help with medical, optician and dental costs.<br />
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Visit: www.simplyhealth.co.uk/royalmail<br />
ROYAL MAIL PRODUCTS<br />
Redirection and Keepsafe<br />
Two months’ Keepsafe and up<br />
to two years’ Redirection – free.<br />
To apply: Ask your manager<br />
Smilers stamps<br />
Get 10% off sets of Smilers (paper and<br />
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Quote: 11JHA.<br />
For more info, visit: www.royalmail.com/smilers<br />
SHOPPING<br />
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email: sales@<br />
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royalmail<br />
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Moko Chocolates<br />
Get 15% off chocolate gifts sent to UK<br />
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Sharp Affinity Programme<br />
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t<br />
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Sport & LEISURE<br />
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A 10% discount on parking at major UK airports.<br />
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cottages4you<br />
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CSMA Club<br />
Discounts on leisure retreats, live events and<br />
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David Lloyd Leisure<br />
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English Heritage<br />
Free entry for colleagues, one adult<br />
guest and up to six children to 280<br />
English Heritage sites by showing a<br />
work pass, plus discounts on holiday<br />
cottages (quote: HROYAL); on prints at<br />
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corporatemembers or intranet for<br />
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Money off membership at more than<br />
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Tel: 0870 898 8080<br />
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Hoseasons<br />
Discounts on holidays. Quote: mail.<br />
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Hovertravel<br />
50% discount off standard adult and child<br />
period returns, day returns and single tickets.<br />
Tickets only available on day of purchase at<br />
Hovertravel terminals. Company ID (Royal Mail<br />
pass) required to receive discounted fares.<br />
Discount eligible for the staff member plus one<br />
and subject to availability.<br />
Merlin Entertainment<br />
Up to 55% off entry to top<br />
UK attractions. Quote: Royal Mail.<br />
Tel: 0871 222 4001<br />
Mygolfpass<br />
Discounted golf in UK and Europe.<br />
Visit: www.mygolfpass.com/rmgroup<br />
Royal Mail Sports Foundation<br />
Help with sports kit and training. Please email<br />
for further information.<br />
Tel: 0845 600 9665<br />
Email: sportsfoundation@royalmail.com<br />
Shift into Sports<br />
Contract-free, discounted fitness facilities.<br />
Quote: post<strong>2012</strong>.<br />
NO DEPOSIT ON A<br />
BRAND NEW CAR<br />
FIAT 500<br />
1.2 POP<br />
£149<br />
Visit: www.shiftintosports.com/<br />
royalmailgroup<br />
Wightlink<br />
Up to 20% ferry discount to the Isle of Wight<br />
for yourself, car and passengers or up to six<br />
travelling companions on foot.<br />
Tel: 0871 376 1000 quoting account<br />
number 200336 and your photo ID number.<br />
Payment by credit/debit card at time of booking<br />
and photo ID to be shown when collecting the<br />
tickets<br />
SUPPORT FOR YOU<br />
Childcare Voucher Scheme<br />
Save up to £904 per parent,<br />
per year. Quote: S462321D.<br />
Tel: 0800 612 9015<br />
Visit: www.kiddivouchers.com<br />
Disability Helpline<br />
For disability-related issues.<br />
Tel: 0800 028 6142 or through<br />
RNID Typetalk and BT Text Direct.<br />
Email: disability.helpline@<br />
royalmail.com<br />
HELP<br />
Free 24-hour independent and confidential<br />
advice for colleagues.<br />
Tel: 0800 688 8777<br />
POOBI<br />
Financial help for hard-pressed employees with<br />
children.<br />
Tel: 020 7239 2295<br />
Visit: www.poobi.org<br />
Rowland Hill Fund<br />
For those in financial hardship.<br />
Tel: 0800 688 8777<br />
Visit: www.rowlandhillfund.org<br />
Volunteer/fundraiser support<br />
For colleagues raising charity cash or<br />
volunteering.<br />
Tel: 0151 284 1221<br />
HONDA<br />
JAZZ 1.2<br />
I-VTEC S<br />
£169<br />
ALFA ROMEO<br />
MITO 1.4<br />
PROGRESSION<br />
£189<br />
SEAT IBIZA<br />
5DR 1.2<br />
TSI FR<br />
£174<br />
VAUXHALL<br />
INSIGNIA HATCH<br />
2.0 CDTI 160 SRI<br />
£279<br />
4 YEARS 5,000 MILES A YEAR<br />
Ecstatic… Neil celebrates arriving at the Eiffel Tower<br />
£0 DEPOSIT<br />
Prices include vat, are per month, with £0 deposit and are for 4 year fi nance at 5,000 miles a year. OTHER DURATIONS AND MILEAGES CAN BE QUOTED ON REQUEST.<br />
This is vehicle fi nance on a Personal Contract Purchase fi nance, where you have the option to buy at the end but are under no obligation to do so, contact us for full details<br />
including optional fi nal purchase prices. Underwriting is subject to status: if you have had fi nancial problems in the last 5 years please inform us: we may be able to help you. A<br />
documentation and ordering fee of £216 is payable at time of order. The above fi gures are correct at time of print.
24 <strong>September</strong> <strong>2012</strong><br />
email<br />
courier@abcomm.co.uk<br />
letterbox<br />
All letters printed win a £25 One4All gift card.<br />
We do try to include as many publishable letters as possible, but due to space<br />
we are unable to publish all of them.<br />
P739s – your<br />
views aired<br />
Many times I’ve<br />
needed to obtain<br />
a signature<br />
and the doors<br />
and windows are<br />
open, the lights are<br />
on, the TV/stereo<br />
is on, you can<br />
occasionally see<br />
children moving<br />
about inside. So<br />
I stand in the<br />
doorway and<br />
ring the doorbell<br />
a few times<br />
(which probably<br />
doesn’t work), I<br />
knock on the door a few times, I shout<br />
‘Hello!’ many times at varying volumes.<br />
I walk around the property to see if I<br />
can attract someone’s attention, but<br />
with no success. So after five minutes I<br />
eventually give up and write out a P739<br />
card, knowing the customer is present.<br />
Guess what? Five minutes later the<br />
customer is chasing me down the street<br />
waving the card like a declaration<br />
of war, their face contorted with<br />
ideas on the cards<br />
Here’s an easy way to improve ‘Something<br />
for you’ cards and customer satisfaction.<br />
Currently, P739 cards say:<br />
Please leave ____ hours before collecting.<br />
We fill in some figure here, which we<br />
have to work out at every delivery stop<br />
where there is no answer. And we must<br />
also remember to write the current time<br />
on the other side of the card, or the<br />
number of hours will tell the customer<br />
nothing. This is not a good system!<br />
It would be far better if the P739 said:<br />
Your item will be ready to collect Mon/Tues/<br />
Wed/Thur/Fri/Sat at _________ am/pm.<br />
If a postie is not going to return to the<br />
office in time for a customer to collect the<br />
item that day, he/she can quickly circle the<br />
next working day. (This works, whatever<br />
public holidays are ahead). Best practice<br />
would also be to put in the opening time -–<br />
typically 7am – of the delivery office.<br />
If a postie is returning to the office in time<br />
for the customer to collect that day, he/she<br />
The lights are on...<br />
rage, shouting ‘Oi postie! I AM IN!’<br />
Despite my best attempts to explain<br />
what had happened, they simply sign<br />
for the item, snatch it from my hand<br />
and stomp back home, satisfied that<br />
once they’ve called my delivery office<br />
to complain then they’ve succeeded in<br />
sorting the problem that they’ve read in<br />
the papers about dodgy postmen.<br />
Chris Hubbard, postman, Shipdham<br />
We do recognise that the vast majority of our<br />
postmen and women perform their role in<br />
the correct way, including following the P739<br />
‘Something for you’ process correctly.<br />
However, P739 complaints continue to<br />
increase and have now become the single<br />
biggest cause for our customers to complain<br />
to us, especially regarding customers saying<br />
they were in.<br />
It is important that we continue to work<br />
in the correct way, and follow our internal<br />
processes correctly at all times. As long as we<br />
do, then any customer complaints relating to<br />
P739s can be dealt with in the knowledge that<br />
all our staff are following the correct process for<br />
items that are too large or require a signature<br />
on delivery.<br />
can easily circle the current day, and enter<br />
the time that the item will be available. It’s<br />
easy to do, and very clear and simple for<br />
the customer, who can see immediately<br />
when the item is ready to collect.<br />
Another idea would be to add a DO<br />
NOT BEND item on the P739.<br />
It would be helpful for the caller’s<br />
office staff if there was a tick box on the<br />
P739 indicating this, and it will save the<br />
conscientious postie from having to write<br />
“DO NOT BEND ITEM” on the card.<br />
Stephen Collings, postman, Redhill<br />
These are excellent suggestions. We are limited in<br />
the amount of information that can be provided on<br />
the cards, but there is currently a project looking<br />
at this type of idea, and in particular standardising<br />
the time in which undeliverable mail can be<br />
made available for collection. I have passed your<br />
suggestions to the team looking at the redesign<br />
so they can be considered for inclusion, along<br />
with the other good ideas that have come as a<br />
result of the wraparound.<br />
• Ed: <strong>Courier</strong> will keep you posted on any changes<br />
Our mailbag was brimming with comments after our wraparound<br />
(pictured) on P739 ‘Something for you’ cards last issue. Here’s a<br />
selection – unless indicated, replies come from Andy Hughes,<br />
operations customer experience manager.<br />
Speed v quality<br />
The wraparound P739 feature on the latest <strong>Courier</strong><br />
was quite interesting and useful. I sincerely wish<br />
that Work Time Listening and Learning sessions<br />
covered this sort of thing in depth more often.<br />
Most of the customer complaints that our office<br />
justifiably receives about P739s are a result of lack<br />
of training and foresight. Regrettably, doing the<br />
job quickly (and therefore cheaply) is too often<br />
viewed as being preferable to doing it carefully<br />
and properly – this is a fact of Royal Mail life in<br />
many locations and no amount of World Class Mail<br />
initiatives will change it, unfortunately.<br />
I do, however, take issue with a couple of points<br />
in your feature. I don’t doubt that occasionally<br />
compensation is paid as a result of P739 complaints,<br />
but this is surely very rare, and it is typically<br />
misleading of you to give this such great prominence.<br />
You are correct, however, to highlight the effect that<br />
poor performance has on all our reputations.<br />
Peter White, postman, Hampshire<br />
Thank you for the feedback. This is one of many cascades<br />
we have done to the frontline on the subject and to help units<br />
in training and guidance on P739 process and completion,<br />
especially for new entrants or as a refresher.<br />
The P739 Intervention Pack, on our Customer Experience<br />
SharePoint site on the intranet, provides in-depth detail and<br />
understanding of the P739 process. These are very useful<br />
for Work Time Listening and Learning, and we have recently<br />
time to communicate<br />
I read your letter about ‘bad timing’ when<br />
delivering P739s to time locked premises, and<br />
the response from Brian Thorley. In 27 years as a<br />
postman I have never heard of the 18 days of trying<br />
to deliver a packet to a time locked building.<br />
I am also confident a lot of my colleagues haven’t<br />
heard about this either given conversations that<br />
have cropped up over the years.<br />
Fairly recently a driver had told me he couldn’t<br />
deliver an item to a flat due to the time lock, and<br />
when he brought the item back to the office was<br />
told by a manager to put a “kill off” sticker and<br />
endorse it as “unable to gain access”. Consequently,<br />
the recipient of this item never received it and<br />
had no knowledge for a long time as to what had<br />
happened to their item. I too have been told to do<br />
this with letters that I could not gain entry with. We<br />
have regular and informative Work Time Listening<br />
and Learning sessions, but I and my colleagues do<br />
not recall this ever being mentioned.<br />
Does this same scenario of 18 days apply to<br />
posties who cannot gain access with letters? If so,<br />
can you tell me how a postie would be expected<br />
to go to a tower block if the buzzer system was not<br />
LETTERBOX<br />
LETTERBOX<br />
Email courierletters@abcomm.co.uk,<br />
write to <strong>Courier</strong> letters,<br />
24-26 Great Suffolk Street,<br />
Email<br />
courierletters@abcomm.co.uk<br />
write to <strong>Courier</strong> letters,<br />
24-26 Great Suffolk Street,<br />
LONDON SE1 0UE<br />
please make your letter no more<br />
than 100 words<br />
TEXT COURIER TO 80800<br />
(MAX 160 CHARACTERS)<br />
Please include your home address<br />
with your letter<br />
filmed a RMTV feature on this as well.<br />
I will ensure that your office and sector managers are fully<br />
aware of the P739 Intervention Pack and RMTV film, and will offer<br />
further support on how to cascade the information in your unit.<br />
Mixed messages<br />
There is quite a focus on P739 cards and complaints<br />
at the moment. I’m sure many customers think<br />
the brown cards we deliver without knocking and<br />
the red ones are the same thing. This is causing<br />
confusion and extra complaints.<br />
We often deliver the brown cards that say<br />
‘Unfortunately there is a fee to pay.’ Could a<br />
bold statement be clearly printed on the card to<br />
mention to the customer that the postman does<br />
not have the item with them, or redesign them to<br />
look totally different?<br />
On many occasions I have been halfway down<br />
a street, only to have an angry customer come out<br />
wanting me to come back and explain to them<br />
where the item is and why I haven’t knocked on the<br />
door!<br />
Andrew Hunt, postman, Basingstoke<br />
A valid point. In most instances of us leaving a P739<br />
‘Something for you’ card or P4605 ‘Fee to pay’ card, the<br />
customer recognises the difference by the different colours.<br />
However, I have forwarded this suggestion to the product<br />
manager so our branding can be reviewed when the cards<br />
are next due to go for a reprint.<br />
working for a long time? The postbag would be<br />
really heavy after a few days, let alone 18.<br />
Neil Rixon, postman, Leagrave<br />
Brian Thorley, operations and product<br />
specification manager, replies:<br />
Following the letter and reply, we received a number of<br />
queries regarding the correct procedures if you are unable to<br />
deliver mail to occupants in time locked premises.<br />
We therefore ran an Ops Focus communication in the week<br />
beginning 27 August reminding delivery office managers of<br />
the correct procedures when Royal<br />
Mail delivers to such buildings.<br />
Clear instructions for delivering<br />
to time locked premises can be<br />
found in our Controlled Entry<br />
Systems Operational Procedure.<br />
Anyone who is unclear<br />
about what actions they<br />
should follow should contact<br />
their manager as soon as<br />
possible and ask them<br />
to provide coaching and<br />
guidance for this particular<br />
situation.<br />
London <strong>2012</strong>:<br />
send us your<br />
favourite stamps<br />
moment – contact<br />
details above
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