Securicor letter post
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by Ian Wylie • Express parcels carrier Securicor Omega Express is launching a pre-emptive strike in the war on the Royal Mail's monopoly on carrying letters for less than £1 with a trial postal service in Birmingham and Manchester.
Over the next week Securicor will despatch, sort and deliver 7,000 letters to businesses in the two cities, claiming this will prove its ability to provide an alternative postal service if the Government lifts the monopoly permanently. But some of its rivals have dismissed the trial as a gimmick.
The letters, to be delivered by two teams of 10 Securicor messengers, will originate not from other businesses, but from Securicor itself.
They will all be sent out from a single location in the south of England.
TNT has already talked of launching its own A trial in the Midlands, but only if and when the monopoly is suspended again. "If we do a pilot, it will be a business-to-business service, involving mail sent from bulk users all over the country," says TNT. "Otherwise it would be no more than an internal mail exercise."
The Government's threat to lift the letter monopoly permanently has forced the Communication Workers Union to call off industrial action and re-ballot postal workers.
Despite criticism, Securicor stands by its pilot. "The outcome of the strike ballot is uncertain and the monopoly could be lifted again as soon as November," it says. "We want to be ready for that and need to demonstrate that we can provide a more efficient postal service."