26 February 2009 - Steve Lawson - © Hellmail Postal News

The DX Group, the leading independent mail and courier company, has given a cautionary response to the proposal to partialy privatise the Royal Mail.

John Coghlan, CEO of DX, said that Whilst DX welcomed the report by Richard Hooper, it said the detail of the proposed plan which will be published today, must focus on encouraging competition rather than dampening it down.

"The focus must be on providing the maximum benefit to users of postal services, who over the past few years have suffered from periods of severe disruption of their services and from prolonged uncertainty." he said.

"The UK postal market, and customers within it, need a strong and successful Royal Mail. We believe that will be best achieved if Royal Mail faces effective competition, and it will therefore be of key importance that any form of private sector partnership and Government support for the pension fund deficit are structured in such a way that sustainable competition is fostered rather than diminished. Similar considerations should inform the transfer of regulatory responsibilities from Postcomm to Ofcom.

"If Royal Mail stumbles, the competing electronic substitutes are ready and waiting to benefit. The resulting loss in faith in mail as a medium could not only damage Royal Mail but private operators such as DX as well" concluded Coghlan.

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