Royal Mail

Royal Mail is the national postal service of the United Kingdom. Historically, the Royal Mail was a government department, but it has been a state-owned company since 1969. Unlike other former state monopolies such as The Stationery Office, British Gas and British Telecom, Royal Mail was not privatised in the 1980s and 1990s, but remains a public limited company wholly owned by the UK government.

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

Royal Mail remains responsible for the universal mail collection and delivery service in the UK. Letters are deposited in a pillar or wall box, taken to a post office, or (by arrangement) collected in bulk from businesses. Deliveries are made once every day (except Sunday and Bank Holidays) to addresses throughout the UK, from Shetland to Cornwall, and the same prices are charged however remote the sender or recipient.

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

History

See also: General Post Office.

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

In his 1816 novel The Antiquary, Walter Scott has an express letter arrive in a small-town post office – which must now rise to the challenge of delivering it.

"I'm no gaun to let naebody see the letter," sobbed the boy, "till I gie't to Mr. Lovel, for I am a faithfu' servant o' the office—if it werena for the powny [... Davie... was with difficulty prevailed upon to surrender the packet to its proper owner... "But my minnie said, I maun be sure to get twenty shillings and five shillings for the postage, and ten shillings and sixpence for the express—there's the paper."

"Let me see—let me see," said Oldbuck, putting on his spectacles, and examining the crumpled copy of regulations to which Davie appealed. "Express, per man and horse, one day, not to exceed ten shillings and sixpence. One day? why, it's not an hour—Man and horse? why, 'tis a monkey on a starved cat!"

Uniform penny postage

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

1960 to present

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

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

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

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

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

Fleet

Royal Mail's main hub is at Nottingham East Midlands Airport - Royal Mail operates the following aircraft -

1x Boeing 737-3Y0 ^*

Timeline

1516: Royal Mail established by Henry VIII under Master of the Posts.
July 31, 1635: Royal Mail service first made available to the public by Charles I. Postage was paid by the recipient.
1654: Oliver Cromwell grants UK monopoly to "Office of Postage".
1657: Fixed postal rates introduced.
1660: *General Post Office (GPO) officially established by Charles II.
1661: First use of date stamp. First Postmaster General appointed.
1784: First mail coach (between Bristol and London).
1793: First uniformed delivery staff. Post Office Investigation Branch formed, the oldest recognised Criminal Investigations Authority in the world.
1830: First mail train (on Liverpool and Manchester Railway).
1840: First adhesive stamp (the Penny Black).
1853: First post boxes erected in mainland Britain.
1854: Rowland Hill becomes Secretary to the Post Office.
1858: Ten London postal districts established.
1870: Post Office begins telegraph service.
1880: First use of bicycles to deliver mail.
1881: Postal order introduced.
1883: Parcel post begins.
1894: First picture postcards.
1912: Post Office opens national telephone service.
1917: London postal districts divided into numbered zones.
1919: First international air mail service.
1927: The London Post Office Underground Railway is opened.
1968: Two-class postal system introduced. National Giro bank opens.
1969: General Post Office changes from government department to nationalised industry.
1974: Postcodes extended over all UK.
1979: Prestel videotex system launched
1981: Telecommunications services transferred to British Telecom. Renamed to "Post Office"
1986: Separated businesses of delivering letters, delivering parcels and operating post offices.
1990: Girobank sold to the Alliance & Leicester Building Society.
1997: Royal Mail's association with London railway stations comes to an end.
1999: 'Royal Mail ViaCode' or 'ViaCode Limited' was launched. This short lived venture was an attempt to enter the internet security market, using 'Digital Certificate' technology. The company was wound up in 2002.
2000: Re-named to 'Consignia' for a brief period.
2001: Neil Monk takes up employment with the company. The "Apollo Project" (restructuring project) takes place.
2003: The London Post Office Underground Railway is closed.
2004: Reduction of deliveries to once daily. Travelling post office (Mail Trains) end. SmartStamp is introduced.
2005: Mail Trains re-introduced on some lines.
2006: Royal Mail loses its monopoly due to the regulator, PostComm opening up the Postal Market, three years ahead of other European Postal Markets. Also introduces new first class postage costs dependent on size.

Non-postal services

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

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

Historically, many government benefits and state retirement pensions were paid in cash through the post office network. However, in recent years, an increasing proportion of benefit and pension payments have been made directly by bank transfer.

Public Interest

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

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

References

BBC report on loss of monopoly

External links

Postal organisations | Service companies of the United Kingdom

Royal Mail | Royal Mail | Royal Mail | Royal Mail | Royal Mail

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