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Be Prepared for Further Postal Strikes
If your business was
affected by the postal strikes in August,
then the news that talks between the Royal
Mail and the Communication Workers Union (CWU)
have broken down again after a four week
period of calm.
This means that new
strikes are expected in late September or
early October, adding to the delays and
disruption caused by the earlier strikes.
British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) Policy
Adviser Narinder Gill has said: “Small firms
rely on royal mail services to do business,
and get hit in the pocket every time post is
held up. Estimates suggest that each postal
strikes costs the UKs small and medium sized
businesses (SME’s) £2.5 million through
delayed post.
“All that the strikes are achieving is
disruption and the further degradation of
the reputation of Royal Mail. An agreement
needs to be reached soon or yet more
customers will seek alternative solutions
for their postal needs.”
Royal Mail says that
the CWU fail to understand the challenges
facing the company, whilst the CWU say that
although some progress has been made there
are still many areas without agreement.
To help keep your business running smoothly
in the event of further strikes, you should
make sure that customers and suppliers are
aware of potential delays; and try to plan
ways around the problems (E.g.: Paying
directly into a bank account instead of
sending a cheque) to ensure your cashflow is
affected as little as possible.
The Royal Mail
helplines will be operating, but will be
extremely busy: 08457 740 740 and 08457 950
950
For more information on deciding which
postal delivery company is suitable
for your business, visit our free article “Sending
Business Post” here.
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