Special set with UK’s favourite flowers including the sunflower and purple iris to feature on collection of 10 stamps
The first stamps to bear King Charles’s silhouette are to be released on a special set celebrating the nation’s favourite flowers. The image of the king’s uncrowned profile, in silver and facing to the right, features on a collection of 10 stamps with images including the sweet pea, the sunflower and the purple iris.
Continue reading...First class stamp £1.10 from April and second class 75p as firm predicts £450m operating loss
The cost of a first class stamp will rise to £1.10 early next month, Royal Mail has announced, breaking the £1 barrier for the first time.
The company said it would increase the price of a first class stamp by 15p from 3 April, a year after it went up by 10p to 95p. The price of a second class stamp is also going up, by 7p to 75p.
The secondary headline on an earlier version of this article gave the incorrect price for second class stamps. This has now been corrected.
Continue reading...Delivery company refused to pay $80m ransom but now faces another round of strikes
Royal Mail has restarted international parcel and letter deliveries almost six weeks after it revealed it had been affected by a ransomware cyber-attack that left it battling to get its international services back up and running.
The delivery company refused to pay an $80m (£67m) ransom demanded by hackers linked to Russia after the “cyber incident”, which resulted in 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK being unable to handle international mail or parcels.
Continue reading...Simon Thompson has been summoned back over accuracy of evidence he gave to committee
The chief executive of Royal Mail is to face a rare recall to parliament to face questions over the accuracy of evidence he gave to a committee of MPs.
Simon Thompson, Royal Mail’s boss, has been summoned back by the business, energy and industrial strategy committee, after giving evidence in a sometimes testy exchange last week.
Continue reading...Postal service has been unable to send letters and parcels overseas since Wednesday due to hacking
Royal Mail has been hit by a ransomware attack by a criminal group, which has threatened to publish the stolen information online.
The postal service has received a ransom note purporting to be from LockBit, a hacker group widely thought to have close links to Russia.
Continue reading...Rico Back believes postal service’s talks with union have been poorly handled
The former Royal Mail boss Rico Back has launched a withering attack on the company’s board, saying its chief executive lacked experience and had mishandled talks with the Communication Workers Union that led to strikes and chaos in the run-up to Christmas.
Royal Mail has been locked for months in an increasingly bitter battle with the CWU over pay and changes to working conditions. Simon Thompson joined as chief executive two years ago from the online grocer Ocado.
Continue reading...Ex-Labour MP and former critic of privatisation risks claims of hypocrisy over advisory role with Daniel Křetínský
The MP turned banker, Chuka Umunna, is advising a Czech tycoon who was accused of planning a secret takeover of Royal Mail by union leaders.
The former Labour MP is one of a team of bankers working on Daniel Křetínský’s British business interests, many of which are held within Vesa Equity Investment, including a 23% stake in Royal Mail’s parent company, International Distributions Services (IDS).
Continue reading...Deadline is 31 January, although there will then be six-month grace period with such post still delivered
Do you have a book of stamps in your wallet, purse or drawer at home? Maybe you have stockpiled them to avoid future price rises.
If so, you need to be aware that the official deadline for using up stamps without barcodes – notably the regular first and second-class “everyday” stamps featuring the profile of the late Queen – is getting closer.
Continue reading...Passengers arriving in UK can expect longer queues while mail may not arrive in time for Christmas
Border Force officials will on Friday join the wave of industrial action across Britain, starting the first of a series of strikes at airports, while Royal Mail workers walk out again for two days before Christmas.
Passengers travelling into the UK have been warned to be prepared for longer queues at immigration in airports, while many letters and parcels will now go undelivered before Christmas, as staff take action over pay trailing behind inflation.
Continue reading...Consumer group Which? said many packages were thrown in ponds, arrived late or were left in the rain
Parcels chucked over fences into ponds, packages hidden in bins and laptops left out in the pouring rain – these are just some of the Christmas parcel delivery failures reported by consumers.
A delivery of pet tarantulas delayed overnight in transit was one of the strangest parcel problems reported to consumer group Which? in a survey of festive delivery difficulties.
Continue reading...CWU members to strike on dates around Black Friday and Christmas after spurning ‘final’ pay offer up to 9%
Strikes by postal workers around Black Friday and in the run-up to Christmas are to go ahead after their union rejected a pay offer that Royal Mail said was final.
Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) will strike for 48 hours on Thursday and Friday and on 30 November and 1 December, and will also carry out single days of action on 9, 11, 14, 15 and 23 December and on Christmas Eve.
Continue reading...CWU is involved in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions with the company
Planned strikes by Royal Mail workers in the next two weeks have been called off after a challenge by the company.
Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) are involved in a long-running dispute over pay and conditions. A series of strikes has taken place in recent weeks and more had been planned on 2, 3, 4, 8, 9 and 10 November.
Continue reading...Postal service says it needs to adapt to post-Covid business world amid near-9% drop in profits and union pay battle
Royal Mail has warned that the company is at a “crossroads” and needs to urgently adapt to the post-pandemic environment as parcel deliveries, originally boosted by Covid lockdowns, continue to wane.
It piles further pressure on the postal company, as it struggles to reach a pay deal with unionised staff who are pushing for an inflation-based pay rise as the cost of living soars.
Continue reading...The new ‘postal drone routes’ will improve the reliability of mail services to remote communities, the company said
Royal Mail has announced plans to increase its use of drones for deliveries with the creation of 50 new “postal drone routes” over the next three years.
Under a partnership with logistics drone company Windracers, and subject to Civil Aviation Authority approval, the move will provide faster and more convenient services for remote communities, Royal Mail said.
Continue reading...Union says company aims to sack nearly 1,000 managers and bring in lower rates of pay
Royal Mail is being warned it could be hit by strikes over plans to cut managers’ jobs.
Unite said the company was aiming to sack nearly 1,000 managers and bring in lower rates of pay in another case of “fire and rehire”, which Royal Mail denies.
Continue reading...Antrim musician Feargal Lynn offers Royal Mail ‘hearty applause’ for successfully delivering letter to him
Sherlock Holmes might have balked, but the Royal Mail detectives came up trumps when they correctly delivered a letter with an address that was more like an episode of This Is Your Life than a conventional street name and postcode.
Writing on Twitter, the County Antrim musician Feargal Lynn said the postal system deserved “hearty applause” for successfully delivering the letter addressed by following a brief history of his family in the area.
Continue reading...Parcel boxes to be introduced across the country, with aim to help small businesses
The Royal Mail is launching the UK’s first parcel postboxes across the country.
The move follows a successful trial and is the first major change in the use of postboxes in 160 years.
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