Latest Moan From You and Me 2023

Not sure that increasing prices is going to help to make up for the 25% fall in volume...

The price of a first class stamp is to rise above £1 in April, Royal Mail has announced.

From 3 April, first class stamps will increase by 15p to £1.10, while second class stamps will rise by 7p to 75p.

Royal Mail said the changes had been subject to "careful consideration" with letter volumes down 25% since the pandemic and with the business facing rising costs.

 

Royal Mail is stuffed. I can't really see how they have much of a future.

Letters by post have been slowly getting phased out for years now, and other companies now exist in the same space to compete with them.

Of course there's always their parcel arm, called Parcel Farce, but there are even more competitors in that space.

Add to that the fact that their staff seem to like to go on strike a lot, making them even less reliable and predictable than before, so more businesses in particular are moving to other service providers.

It is a shame really. While they're no longer the provider of choice for businesses that send thousands of mail pieces per day, they're still very cost effective for the individual. Last time I sent a letter by post was last year I think. I can't remember what a stamp cost then, let's say a quid. I dropped it in a postbox literally 50 yards from my house. A day or two later it arrived at an office in Edinburgh. So my effort and expense was about a 3 minute walk and about a quid in cost to get something right to an office over a hundred miles away.

 

The postman seems to deliver all kinds of stuff these days other than letters.

 

La Poste is diversifying to try to keep it's head above water. For a fee, you can book a postie to come and talk at you for half an hour (yes, it's that grim in the French countryside for elderly people). They are also taking on teaching the Highway Code but thankfully not the practical aspects of driving The sad bit is that when we came here the postie took outgoing post and sorted it, left us a note the following day how much was owing, collected and delivered prescriptions for the elderly, goodness knows what else they did....they knew everyone on their considerable rounds. Now it's all temps and a very hit-and-miss service. Truly sad.

 

I find Parcel Force efficient especially in comparison to couriers. Couriers, if they bother to deliver at all here, are often late.

I also think Royal Mail, even with their problems, are better than some services abroad. I received a Christmas card from Canada two weeks ago that was posted at the beginning of December. For some reason mail and parcels to and from there are always held up within Canada.

 

follow up to my moan about heating bills, here is the electric and water - the water portion is bimonthly so this is two month's worth

 

The water charge look quite extortionate if that is for 2 months.

 

Just been watching Country file.
At one point we see a hill farmer in Wales checking sheep that are big enough to go for slaughter.
He said in a few days they will be dead and in the Middle East.

Next item was about British farmers not being able to compete with cheap Lamb and Beef imports from Australia and New Zealand and how the consumer should buy British.

So what's going wrong, its got me confused.
Why is it profitable to ship lamb to the Middle East rather than selling it here.
Why is it cheaper to ship lamb 12,000 miles from NZ than it is to sell Welsh lamb here.

I think our fishermen do something similar, it just crazy.