The extra £15m Royal Mail is ploughing into its network this Christmas will still not be enough to prevent widespread postal chaos should the country see a repeat of last year’s harsh weather, according to experts.
Earlier this year, critics claimed that a major contributory factor in last winter’s delivery fiasco was that Royal Mail had cut too close to the bone; cutbacks which have continued at a pace this year.
The postal operator has made a big deal over its plans to recruit 18,000 temporary workers across the UK over the Christmas period – 15,000 in England, 2,000 in Scotland, 1,000 in Wales and 400 in Northern Ireland – at a cost of £15m. But this is actually fewer than last year, when it hired almost 20,000 workers to help handle its festive mailbag of around 2 billion items.
One Royal Mail insider said: “We have always had an influx of seasonal staff – hiring temporary workers at Christmas is nothing new. There have been so many job cuts and sorting office closures that we’ll need them just to get the post out on time anyway. If we get the same harsh weather as last year, we’ll be sunk.”
And Nigel Woods, postal expert at Consumer Focus, is urging businesses and consumers to avoid leaving seasonal mail to the last minute.
He added: “People across the country experienced frustrating delays to their Christmas post last winter. Another spell of bad weather in December could really test Royal Mail’s ability to deliver our post on time.
“Even though it still seems a long way off, we would remind people to start thinking about putting in their online orders for presents, and sending their Christmas post to family and friends in advance. Avoiding leaving it to the last minute can help save much-needed extra cash and avoid unwanted stress.”
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