Courier firms profit from Royal Mail confusion
Date: 16 July 2007
Courier firms are profiting from ongoing problems at Royal Mail.
Following two separate 24-hour strikes, during which Royal Mail deliveries across the country ground to a halt, various courier companies have reported booming business, the Guardian reports.
DX said it will make at least £10 million out of the strikes this year, and Citipost has won over customers such as the Economist magazine.
The Economist's UK distribution manager, Bob Milner, said: "Regrettably, if the incumbent providers are unable to deliver what we need, then we'll have to go elsewhere and I'm delighted that alternatives exist."
Other postal and courier firms doing well include Business Post, which has enjoyed a 13 per cent increase in turnover in the first quarter, and TNT, which has picked up companies defecting from Royal Mail including Express Gifts and telecoms firms BT and Caudwell Communications.
Further, TNT wants to develop into a full-blown postal service to directly rival Royal Mail.
The Royal Mail strike centres around pay, but analysts have argued that postal workers are shooting themselves in the foot because the company cannot afford the wage increases and would face privatisation.
Meanwhile, courier firms continue to profit from the confusion.
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