Door-to-door growth secures jobs

Ongoing growth in unaddressed mail volumes will allow Royal Mail to capture more of this expanding market and protect jobs, CWU outdoor secretary Bob Gibson said yesterday (Tuesday).

In an upbeat message to members, Bob explained that the previous limit of six ‘door-to-door’ items per walk, per week will rise to seven in some areas of the country as the company continues its drive to increase its share of this important revenue stream.

Back in 2010, the union agreed to remove the then three-item cap on these products as part of the Business Transformation 2010 agreement.

“The union agreed to this change as we could see that this was a potential growth area and, had we maintained the cap, then this work would have been lost to competitor companies such as TNT,” Bob pointed out.

“The agreed switch from a per-item, piecework-type payment system to a universal, weekly payment went hand-in-hand with placing door-to-door work into general workload – changes which were also part of the 2010 agreement.”

The CWU’s position appears to have been vindicated by recent market reports showing this activity up by both volume and expenditure on a year-on-year basis. A UK study by the Direct Marketing Association reports 3.5 per cent (volume) and 3.9 per cent (expenditure) growth respectively. Read the full report here: UK door drop industry growth returns, report reveals.

And a continent-wide analysis by the European Letterbox Marketing Association (ELMA) reported an overall volume rise of 2.3 per cent and placed the UK in fifth place among the 22 countries surveyed. Read the full report here: Unaddressed marketing mail rebounding from recession, says study.

According to the ELMA study, the average European household receives 12 of these items per week – compared to a UK figure of five.

“It’s clear this is a growing area – and one set to increase further,” said Bob, adding: “The Quality of Service provided to current Door to Door customers by our members continues to improve and deliver a powerful message about the value of the service provided and the response customers can expect to their advertisements.”

Read Bob’s full message to members, along with detailed advice in LTB 604/13 Door 2 Door growth – 7 items per week