Constant vigilance

As part of our ongoing series of blogs from throughout the business, we’ll continue to bring you stories from colleagues who are doing their bit right across the operation on how things have changed during the current crisis.

Today, we hear from Mount Pleasant Revenue Protection (RP) manager Dave Smith.

‘I have always commuted into central London using public transport,’ said Dave. ‘But since the lockdown, my journey in to work has become a very surreal experience.

‘I normally travel into central London on a train from the Kent coast. Before the lockdown, my station was incredibly busy, as it’s also the terminus for the Gatwick Express. You couldn’t move for tourists with suitcases and commuters on their iPhones. Now however, it’s completely empty.

‘There are usually 12 carriages on my train and each morning, I’ve been counting the people getting off. Unbelievably, it’s never more than 10! There are now more police on the platform than commuters these days!

‘From there, I jump on the bus, which now takes just 20 minutes to reach London Central, when it used to take around 50. Once again, I’m alone on the bus for the entire journey. When I get off outside Mount Pleasant, both the driver and I always wave to each other in acknowledgment of one key worker to another. I’m sure all of my team have similar stories to tell.

‘From talking to RP unit managers around the country, I know it’s an incredibly tough and tiring time for everyone. You never know what you’re going to come into, and when you come in and hear that members of your team have fallen ill with coronavirus-type symptoms, it really gets to you.

‘However, we still have a job to do. Unfortunately, there are people out there who are looking to take advantage of our depleted resources during the pandemic, and it is our responsibility to stop them. In one recent instance, due to the vigilance of my team and the good working relationship we have with our drivers, we made a £130k recovery from a customer’s mailing that was presented without posting documentation. 

‘We also removed a mailing containing dangerous goods from the pipeline and ensured that a customer with a suspended account paid their debt in full before their account was re-instated and they were allowed to post again. This was worth a further £57k to the business.  

‘It just goes to prove that even in current times, we need to scan all customers posting documentation and handover Red X mail to RP because people will take the opportunity to exploit us if we don’t make every effort to stop them.’

Please note: This photo was taken before social distancing measures were introduced.