Good to be back on the bike 🚴

Normal bicycle service resumed this week after what felt like weeks of snow, ice and dangerous winds. Everything feels more authentic on the bike and as well as the environmental benefits it also brings down my outgoings with regards to petrol. After a predictably quiet January we will be signing off the month and starting February with a really busy week of mail. If we don’t count Christmas, it’s without doubt going to be our busiest mail week. And this is before we collect from our daily collection customers. The biggest growth sector we are seeing in the business at the moment is the first class mail. Whether that’s due to the Royal Mail announcement of a 3 day mail delivery we don’t know. But for some peace of mind for Royal Mail customers, them saying a 3 day delivery week doesn’t actually change anything. Those inside the business know that is what has been happening since COVID. It becoming official just stops them from receiving more fines for massively missing delivery targets. It just legalises what they had decided to do against all regulators wishes for best part of five years. I can’t wait to find out how much they hike the price before they say they will have a price freeze till 2027. They blame everyone bar themselves for the reduction in letter volumes, the reason why people no longer post mail is quite simply it’s too expensive. When it was a public service, which it still should be the price of a first class stamp was 63p and first class was hitting its target of next day delivery of 95%. The price of a first class stamp has almost doubled to £1.25 in 8 years and with that the delivery standards have slipped off the radar. So, after 8 years of privatisation it’s paid out more than £2 billion to shareholders doubled the price for the customer and now they want to go down to a 3 day week so their standards don’t come under scrutiny. When they save £650 million a year, it doesn’t take a professor to work out who the beneficiaries will be. Do you think they will save all this money and then go actually we can start delivering next day again with the profits?

The problem is for mail there is no other viable national option. Now I am not saying it’s going to be us we can currently only deliver locally, but that covers all your really important mail from hospitals, doctors, solicitors and schools. But if every area had a Local Postal Solutions which I hope can happen one day, probably when I’m pushing up the daisies. Then Royal Mail would have to compete for mail business and would have to drive their prices down. Part of me wants to take Royal Mail on and part of me hopes they will react to the imminent threat and bring their cost down nationwide. The truth is as a nation we need Royal Mail, but we need them to be what they were and not what they’ve become a cash cow for shareholders funded by in the words of Mr Bates “the skint little people”.

The month of February brings some refreshing change. I am going to have a light hearted month and no more heavy posts, there probably not doing me any favours. But, it is good to vent from time to time.

55p for a second class letter(20p saving), 90p for a first class letter (35p saving) and our guarantee that it will be delivered by the end of the day, the day after collection so no more than 36 hours. Over 30% of our first class mail is delivered on the same day as collection. What we are able to do surpasses any service you’ve ever received for mail. Trial us if you don’t believe it, send a few items through us, test the water. You won’t go back I absolutely promise you. And, don’t forget we deliver parcels for a minimum £1 cheaper than any other courier and over 95% are currently delivered same day.

Much needed day off tomorrow, recharge the batteries and get bike ready for next week. Eco-friendly too, if your not with us, your missing out BIG TIME

Not just a postman.