[110], Localised strikes took place across the UK from June 2009 and grew in frequency throughout the summer. [37] The company was renamed Consignia plc in 2001[38] and the new name was intended to show that the company did more than deliver mail; however, the change was very unpopular with both the public and employees. However, it is not clear whether value for money was achieved and whether Ministers obtained the appropriate return to the taxpayer. It was anticipated that around half of these could be closed by 2016. Royal Mail Group plc is a British multinational postal service and courier company, originally established in 1516 as a department of the English government. The process is divided into two parts. Though served by independent operators, the three Crown Dependencies use British postcodes in co-operation with Royal Mail; each dependency has its own postal area. [68] A union source stated: "It is likely to be an all-out strike first, then rolling strikes in the run up to Christmas", while the CWU had dismissed the offer of an 8.6% rise over three years as "misleading and unacceptable". Find the latest stuff for sale in Essex on Gumtree. 8.63 million people live in London, which is on the River Thames.. London is the biggest city in western Europe, and the world's largest financial centre.. London was founded by the Romans in Londinium.London is also known as Lunnainn in Scottish Gaelic, Llundain in Welsh and Londain in Irish. In July 1655, the Post Office was put under the direct government control of John Thurloe, a Secretary of State, best known to history as Cromwell's spymaster general. Letters and parcels are deposited in post or parcel boxes, or are collected in bulk from businesses and transported to Royal Mail sorting offices. [20], Greater changes took place when the Uniform Penny Post was introduced on 10 January 1840, whereby a single rate for delivery anywhere in Great Britain and Ireland was pre-paid by the sender. [67], The CWU confirmed on 13 October 2013 that strike action would occur in response to the privatisation of Royal Mail, with a possible start date of 23 October 2013. [149], Royal Mail Ford Transit van, outside the Axminster post office, Royal Mail vehicle logo as used in Scotland. General Logistics Systems, an international logistics company, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Mail Group. [127], As part of the sorting process, mail is collected from pillar boxes, Post Office branches and businesses, and brought to the regional mail centre. [127], Integrated mail processing (IMP) is the method that Royal Mail uses to sort the mail (in bulk) before delivery and has been implementing the technology since 1999. For PPI mail, this involves either a simple rubber stamp and an ink pad, or a printed label. On behalf of both himself and Business Minister Michael Fallon, Cable stated before the Committee: "We don't apologise for it and we don't regret it."[76]. [94], In August 2012, Royal Mail again attempted to prohibit the carriage of all firearms, air rifles and air pistols from 30 November 2012. This was used as the model for other postal services around the world, but also spilled over to the modern-day crowd-funding approach. [72] Royal Mail confirmed that both sides had reached a proposed settlement on 4 December,[73] and the CWU confirmed on 9 December 2013 that it would recommend the deal to its members. Advance booking […] W e've We've officially got a spring in our step. [86], Royal Mail Special Delivery is an expedited mail service that guarantees delivery by 1 pm or 9 am the next day for an increased cost. For franked mail, a dedicated franking machine is used. The first mail train ran in 1830, on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. [143] In June 2013, Royal Mail confirmed it would extend Titan Airways' contract to operate night flights from Stansted Airport, from January 2014 to January 2017, introducing new routes to Edinburgh and Belfast using three Boeing 737s. [147] It was one of only two Royal Mail Ships in service, alongside the Queen Mary 2, although it did not belong to Royal Mail Group. [33] Postcodes were extended across Great Britain and Northern Ireland between 1959 and 1974. However, in the 1990s, President of the Board of Trade Michael Heseltine began investigating a possible sale, and eventually a Green Paper on Postal Reform was published in May 1994, outlining various options for privatisation. Royal Mail ended Sunday collections from pillar boxes that year. AC Cars, originally incorporated as Auto Carriers Ltd., is a British specialist automobile manufacturer and one of the oldest independent car makers founded in Britain. [44] In 2005, Royal Mail signed a contract with GB Railfreight to operate an overnight rail service between London and Scotland (carrying bulk mail, and without any on-train sorting); this was later followed by a London-Newcastle service. (See List of postal entities.) It also said that a ban would cause unnecessary hardship to individuals and businesses. Antony Clayton. [91], Royal Mail will not carry a number of items which it says could be dangerous for its staff or vehicles. [124], Post is stamped as First Class (traditionally red stamps) or Second Class (blue stamps) and prioritised accordingly. The recommendations in the Hooper Review led Business Secretary Lord Mandelson to seek to part privatise the company by selling a minority stake to a commercial partner. [16], Between 1719 and 1763, Ralph Allen, postmaster at Bath, signed a series of contracts with the post office to develop and expand Britain's postal network. [84], Royal Mail is required by law to maintain the universal service, whereby items of a specific size[85] can be sent to any location within the United Kingdom for a fixed price, not affected by distance. A Royal Mail public consultation document on the changes said: "We expect the impact on customers to be minimal". [21] A few months later, to certify that postage had been paid on a letter, the sender could affix the first adhesive postage stamp, the Penny Black, which was available for use from 6 May the same year. Hemel Hempstead, Southend, Worcester were closed in 2012. The number of mail centres has been declining as part of the Mail Centre Rationalisation Programme. It processes more than 36,000 items per hour and was part of their ongoing modernisation programme that commenced in the early 1980s. [60] The Act also contained the option for Post Office Ltd to become a mutual organisation in the future.[4]. It insures goods to the value of £50 for 9 am or £500 for 1 pm to £2,500 (for either service). [34], Postal workers held their first national strike for 17 years in 1988, after walking out over bonuses being paid to recruit new workers in London and the South East. Use this box to search for words anywhere in the object records. Dartford, Tonbridge, Maidstone and Canterbury were closed in 2012 but replaced by a new mail centre in Rochester. [105], Royal Mail suffered national wildcat strikes over pay and conditions in 2003. Romec is 51% owned by Royal Mail, and 49% by Haden Building Management Ltd, which became Balfour Beatty WorkPlace and is now Cofely UK, part of GDF Suez in a joint venture. [77] During the presentation of the report, Bailey referred to the underpinning factors of "fear of failure and poor quality advice", and warned that British taxpayers could sustain further losses in the future due to the inclusion of Royal Mail's 'surplus' assets as part of "the most significant privatisation in years". Ofcom found that Royal Mail had abused its dominant position in 2014 in the delivery of letters. One of his first acts from London was to establish the royal postal service between London and Edinburgh, in an attempt to retain control over the Scottish Privy Council. [48], On 1 October 2008, Postwatch was merged into the new consumer watchdog Consumer Focus. The company's subsidiary Royal Mail Group Limited operates the brands Royal Mail (letters) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels). [97] Companies using the "Door to door" service include Virgin Media, BT, Sky, Talk Talk, Farmfoods, Domino's Pizza, Direct Line and Morrisons. [142] Dedicated night mail flights are operated by Titan Airways for Royal Mail between East Midlands Airport and Bournemouth Airport and between Exeter International Airport and London Stansted Airport. In the event that the item does not arrive on time, there is a money back guarantee. The London Post Office Railway was opened in 1927. [26], The first Post Office pillar box was erected in 1852 in Jersey. We called it before: 2021 is the year of the staycation. (Featuring the Crown of Scotland), British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies are allowed to establish independent postal systems, and typically now have local government agencies, British government delegates, or BFPO as postal operators. Pillar boxes were introduced in mainland Britain the following year. [64] A report on 10 October 2013 revealed that around 700,000 applications for shares had been received by HM Government, more than seven times the amount that were available to the public. [22] Other innovations were the introduction of pre-paid William Mulready designed postal stationery letter sheets and envelopes. [87], The Royal Mail runs, alongside its stamped mail services, another sector of post called business mail. On the basis of the performance of the share price to date, it appears that the taxpayer has missed out on significant value. Additionally, a list of 'restricted' items can be posted subject to conditions. [49], In 2008, due to a continuing fall in mail volumes, the government commissioned an independent review of the postal services sector by Richard Hooper CBE, the former deputy chairman of Ofcom. [39], In 1999, Royal Mail launched a short-lived e-commerce venture, ViaCode Limited, aimed at providing encrypted online communications services. [35], British Telecom was separated from the Post Office in 1980, and emerged as an independent business in 1981. [66] Following the IPO, 52.2% of Royal Mail had been sold to investors, with 10% given to employees for free. Wed 5 Dec - National Opera House, WEXFORD. Mail Centres in the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey are streamlined into the Royal Mail’s domestic network. On 1 April 2012, Post Office Ltd became independent of Royal Mail Group, and was reorganised to become a subsidiary of Royal Mail Holdings,[58] with a separate management and board of directors. The UK government initially retained a 30% stake in Royal Mail,[6] but sold its remaining shares in 2015, ending 499 years of state ownership. "[79], In 2014, the London Assembly voted to call for the renationalisation of Royal Mail. [139], Royal Mail is famous for its custom load-carrying bicycles (with the rack and basket built into the frame), made by Pashley Cycles since 1971. [47], In 2007, the Royal Mail Group plc became Royal Mail Group Ltd, in a slight change of legal status. The office of Postmaster General was abolished and replaced with the positions of chairman and chief executive in the new company. For most of its history, the Royal Mail was a public service, operating as a government department or public corporation. [82] A 15% stake was subsequently sold to investors on 11 June 2015, raising £750m, with a further 1% passed to the company's employees. [13][14] The first Postmaster General was appointed in 1661, and a seal was first fixed to the mail. [99] Clarification given by the company in June 2015 explained that election communications and unaddressed government mail would be delivered to customers even if they had opted out. Integrated mail processors scan the front and back of an envelope and translate addresses into machine-readable code. In July 2013, Cable announced that Royal Mail was to be floated on the London Stock Exchange, and confirmed that postal staff would be entitled to free shares. Business Secretary Vince Cable defended the low sale price that was finalised, saying that the threat of strike action around the time of the sale meant it was a fair price in the circumstances,[76] following questioning from the House of Commons Business Committee in late April 2014. [119], In July 2012 Ofcom consulted on a scheme proposed by Royal Mail to alter its delivery obligations to allow larger postal items to be left with neighbours rather than returning them to a Royal Mail office to await collection. The service was later extended to Canada (1941), East Africa (1941), Burma (1942), India (1942), South Africa (1942), Australia (1943), New Zealand (1943) Ceylon (1944) and Italy (1944). [61] On 12 September 2013, a six-week plan for the sale of at least half of the business was released to the public; the Communication Workers Union (CWU), representing over 100,000 Royal Mail employees, said that 96% of Royal Mail staff opposed the sell-off. Find best-selling books, new releases, and classics in every category, from Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird to the latest by Stephen King or the next installment in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid children’s book series. [150], Postal service company in the United Kingdom, Pillar box dating from the reign of Queen Victoria, Royal Mail GR VI cast iron wall postbox in Clackmannan, Scotland still in use, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies, Subterranean city: beneath the streets of London. The BIS Committee called on the UK government to publish a list of the preferred investors involved in the sale, including the details of those investors who sold their shareholding. You can choose whether to restrict your search to only those objects for which we have images. Due to the high demand for shares, an additional 7.8% was sold via an over-allotment arrangement on 8 November 2013. The Post Office's money order system was introduced in 1838. [41], As part of the 2000 Act, the government set up a postal regulator, the Postal Services Commission, known as Postcomm, which offered licences to private companies to deliver mail. [18], In December 1839, the first substantial reform started when postage rates were revised by the short-lived Uniform Fourpenny Post. [28], A national telephone service was opened by the Post Office in 1912. The date stamped on the reverse of the photograph is 11 March 1966. [126] Each mail centre serves a large geographically defined area of the UK and together they form the backbone network of the mail distribution operation. Royal Mail was accused of trying to circumvent the Agency Workers Regulations, but denied this, saying they only wanted to reduce recruitment costs.