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MP60032

MAPS BUSINESS POSTAL SERVICES : SEPTEMBER 2002

Overview

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This report covers: business postal services, express delivery, services,

Companies covered include: Business Post Group, Consignia, Hays, Datarun, Deya, London Underground, Securicor Omega Express, Special Delivery Services, TNT UK,UK Mail, Express Ltd., Speedmail International,

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1	Executive Summary 1
2	1. Introduction 6
3	THE FOCUS 6
4	THE POSTAL SERVICES ACT, 2000 6
5	COMPETITION TIMETABLE 7
6	THE UNIVERSAL POSTAL SERVICE 8
7	Definition 8
8	2. Strategic Overview 9
9	MARKET DYNAMICS AND SEGMENTATION 9
10	DISTRIBUTION 9
11	COMPETITIVE STRUCTURE 10
12	MARKETING AND ADVERTISING 11
13	THE CONSUMER 11
14	Table 1: Comparison of Delivery Performance Between UK and European Liberalised Universal Service Providers ( percent), 2000/2001 12
15	Table 2: Target Mail Delivery Times in the UK and Selected Other European Countries, 2001 12
16	MARKET FORECASTS 13
17	3. Sector Analysis: Business-to-Business 14
18	BACKGROUND 14
19	MARKET SIZE 15
20	Table 3: Volume of Inland Mail Handled by The Royal Mail (million), Years Ending March 1997-2001 15
21	Figure 1: Volume of Inland Mail Handled by The Royal Mail (million), Years Ending March 1997-2001 16
22	Table 4: Consignia Revenues from Postal Packets by Weight (£m), Financial Year 2000-2001 16
23	CONSUMER TRENDS 17
24	MARKETING and ADVERTISING 17
25	DISTRIBUTION 17
26	4. Sector Analysis: Periodicals 19
27	BACKGROUND 19
28	MARKET SIZE 20
29	Table 5: The Top 20 Customer Magazines in the UK Ranked by Circulation, July-December 2001 20
30	CONSUMER TRENDS 21
31	MARKETING and ADVERTISING 22
32	DISTRIBUTION 22
33	5. Sector Analysis: Bulk Mail 23
34	BACKGROUND 23
35	MARKET SIZE 23
36	Table 6: UK Direct Mail by Volume (million items), 1997-2001 23
37	Figure 2: UK Direct Mail by Volume (million items), 1997-2001 24
38	Table 7: Advertising Expenditure by Media Sector at Current Prices (£m), 1997-2001 24
39	Table 8: Advertising Expenditure by Medium (£m), First Quarter 2002 25
40	Figure 3: Advertising Expenditure by Medium (£m), First Quarter 2002 26
41	CONSUMER TRENDS 26
42	Table 9: Top Ten Companies by Expenditure on Direct Mail (£m), March 2002 27
43	Figure 4: Top Ten Companies by Expenditure on Direct Mail (£m), March 2002 27
44	Table 10: Top Ten Companies by Volume of Direct Mail Sent (number of items), March 2002 28
45	DISTRIBUTION 28
46	6. An International Perspective 29
47	MARKET DEVELOPMENTS 29
48	Table 11: Share of Selected Postal Markets Held by Incumbent Post Offices After Liberalisation by Country, 1993-2000 29
49	Table 12: State of Liberalisation of the European Postal Markets by Country by Weight (grams), June 2001 30
50	COMPETITOR ENVIRONMENT 31
51	CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR 32
52	7. PEST Analysis 33
53	POLITICAL FACTORS 33
54	ECONOMIC FACTORS 33
55	SOCIAL FACTORS 34
56	Risks to the Introduction of Effective Competition 34
57	Risks to the Regulation of Consignia Pending Effective Competition 34
58	TECHNOLOGICAL FACTORS 35
59	8. Consumer Dynamics 36
60	BACKGROUND 36
61	WOULD YOU PAY MORE? 36
62	Table 13: Attitudes Towards Value for Money from The Royal Mail ( percent of respondents), 2002 37
63	ROYAL MAIL FOR SALE? 39
64	PLEASE, MR POSTMAN, WHO ARE YOU? 39
65	Table 14: Attitudes Towards Privatisation of The Royal Mail ( percent of respondents), 2002 40
66	Table 15: Understanding of The Royal Mail and Attitudes to Competition ( percent of respondents), 2002 42
67	WHO'S THAT KNOCKING ON MY DOOR? 44
68	OFFERS YOU CAN'T REFUSE 44
69	Table 16: Attitudes Towards Delivery Times ( percent of respondents), 2002 45
70	Table 17: Attitudes Towards Direct Mail ( percent of respondents), 2002 47
71	LAST POST 49
72	WINNING POST 49
73	Table 18: Attitudes Towards Reduction in The Royal Mail's Services ( percent of respondents), 2002 50
74	Table 19: Attitudes to Alternative Suppliers to The Royal Mail ( percent of respondents), 2002 52
75	NEITHER A SENDER NOR A RECEIVER BE 54
76	Table 21: Frequency of Mail Usage ( percent of respondents), 2002 55
77	POST MORTEM 57
78	9. Company Profiles 58
79	BUSINESS POST GROUP PLC 58
80	Corporate Strategy 58
81	Products 58
82	New Product Development 58
83	Distribution 58
84	Profitability 59
85	CONSIGNIA holdings plc 59
86	Corporate Strategy 59
87	Products 59
88	New Product Development 60
89	Advertising 61
90	Distribution 61
91	Profitability 61
92	Table 21: The Royal Mail's Profitability (£m), 2001/2002 61
93	HAYS plc 62
94	Corporate Strategy 62
95	Products 62
96	New Product Development 62
97	Distribution 62
98	Profitability 63
99	Table 22: Financial Results for Hays PLC (£m), 2000 and 2001 63
100	SECURICOR OMEGA EXPRESS 63
101	Corporate Strategy 63
102	Products 63
103	New Product Development 64
104	Distribution 64
105	Profitability 64
106	Table 23: Financial Results for Securicor PLC (£m), 2000 and 2001 64
107	TNT UK Ltd 64
108	Corporate Strategy 64
109	Products 64
110	New Product Development 65
111	Distribution 65
112	Profitability 65
113	Table 24: Financial Results for TPG (Em), 2000 and 2001 65
114	10. The Future 66
115	THE ROYAL MAIL 66
116	COMPANIES LICENCED BY POSTCOMM 67
117	Consignia PLC 67
118	Datarun 67
119	Deya Ltd 67
120	Hays PLC 67
121	London Underground Ltd 68
122	Securicor Omega Express Ltd 68
123	Special Delivery Services Ltd 68
124	TNT UK Ltd 68
125	UK Mail Ltd 68
126	Express Ltd 68
127	Speedmail International Ltd 68
128	11. Glossary 70
129	12. Further Sources 71
130	Associations 71
131	Publications 71
132	General Sources 72
133	Bonnier Information Sources 72
134	Government Publications 73
135	Other Sources 74

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

There is an increasing demand for postal reform across all nations. In many countries, including the UK, national telecommunications and postal services have already been split, with telecommunications provision being completely privatised.

Initial reforms in the UK do not make provision for privatisation of postal services, i.e. the introduction of competition to the provision of services notably, the collection and delivery of letters weighing under 350 grams and costing under £1, hitherto reserved for the national carrier. In the UK, The Royal Mail has been responsible for all letter collection and delivery under its Universal Service Provision obligation.

The Postal Services Act 2000 decreed that The Royal Mail would be permitted to act as if it were a private company - although all its shares would be retained by the Government - but that competition should be introduced in such a way that the universal service would not be compromised. At the same time, a new body - known as The Postal Services Commission (Postcomm) - was appointed to implement these changes.

Many companies operating within the mail services arena - those outside of that reserved for the national carrier - welcome this initiative and, through the granting of licenses by Postcomm to provide specific, but limited, services within the reserved area are able to test their services prior to full market liberalisation.

Postcomm has a difficult path to tread. If private operators are allowed to `cherry-pick' the more lucrative services, and these lie mainly in high-volume business mailings, The Royal Mail, having a legal obligation to provide a universal service, might not be able to offset costs from its less profitable areas against those that are more profitable.

As Consignia plans to rename itself Royal Mail Group in late 2002, and as the Post Office network does not come under the jurisdiction of Postcomm, this report will refer to all of Consignia's mail activities as The Royal Mail.

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Last updated by Amanda Porteous 2002