The changing mailbag
Our business has changed many times in the more than 500 years of our existence – and we are continuing to adapt to ensure we stay ahead of our competitors.
Our last transformation programme delivered almost full letters automation, now we’re going to do the same with parcels. Today, around 90% of letters are automated – but only around 20% of parcels are.
Our colleagues see the changes first-hand. We spoke to three Delivery colleagues who have seen long and short-term changes. They discussed what they think our challenges are and their hopes for our future.
Postman Paul Rhodes joined Royal Mail as a cadet under the Youth Training Scheme and used to get the bus to his rounds in Birmingham. More than 30 years on he’s seen a complete change in his mail bag.
‘At the start, it was all letters and flimsies (flats), we’d have the odd parcel and we’d get it all in one bag,’ he said. ‘Now it’s totally changed. Letters are the minority, it’s nearly all parcels.’
Paul thinks our standing as a trusted delivery service will help us against the competition but processing within mail centres could be improved. ‘If you improve the technology for the people who are inside you make our job easier and we’d be a lot more efficient,’ he added.
In 10 years of service, postman Rouzbeh Almasi-Shehni, also based at Birmingham Mail Centre, has seen a similar shift. ‘Letters are going down and parcels going up, and the size of parcels are becoming bigger and bigger,’ he said. ‘The service is changing, for me it’s becoming more reliable because we do Tracked items.’
Postwoman Alisha Harris only joined the mail centre at the end of January, but even in the short time she has been with us, she’s seen an increase in parcels. ‘They’re getting bigger and we’re delivering more of them,’ she said.
‘We’ve got big enough vans. We could improve automation of parcels. That would help get things out quicker.’
Postman, Steve Hilton, from Liverpool South East Delivery Office, said: ‘Parcels are a massive thing for Royal Mail but other companies like DPD have got live tracking. I think that’s where Royal Mail needs to innovate. People want to order something on Thursday night and have it there on Friday morning.’
Joseph Arthur, OPG, Heathrow Worldwide Distribution Centre, said: ‘Parcels are going up so much because everyone is online shopping now. There’s been a lot of changes for us recently with new automation and machines and I think we need to keep adding more so that we keep customers’ confidence in us.’
Letters are – and will remain – an important part of our business but we can’t get away from the fact that parcels are our growth area. To be as efficient as possible in years to come, we need to be able to automate as many parcels as possible to stay ahead of the competition. That’s what we must focus on.
