MAILING SPECIALIST
Dave Broadway, managing director, CFH Total Document Management
"Royal Mail should take a leaf out of many of their corporate customers’ books and move into the 21st century. Crucially, they need to look closely at how IT can improve the efficiency of their business, so I would make IT applications a priority for investment. Historically Royal Mail appears to struggle to implement new IT with any success. The organisation’s staff appear to view mail companies as a threat; I would turn that view around and help them to understand that it’s the success of DSA providers and hybrid mail companies that is going to increase the quantity of mail going through their network in the UK."

DIRECT MAIL PRINTER
Lance Hill, group sales and marketing director, 4DM
"As a board member of the Royal Mail Strategic Mailing Partnership I can tell you that there is a lot of good work going on in the background to make Royal Mail more efficient and competitive. It has put considerable resources into building relationships with mailing houses the better to understand our problems and frustrations and we are already seeing positive steps. That said, Royal Mail is like the proverbial oil tanker and it will take time to implement change given the sheer scale of the operation but I am confident of the long-term future."

DIRECT MAIL PRINTER
John Hornby, chief executive, The Lettershop Group
"Royal Mail has to work closely with its customers and it has to realise that it is working with a medium that is competing with electronic communication for a piece of the marketing spend. This only references direct mail though and I think that the printed volumes of transactional mailings will also come under similar pressure. Modernisation of Royal Mail needs to happen as does a change in its working practices. There are many skilled people working for Royal Mail and new management needs to harness their skills. People should also remember that a postman is one of the only people that 99% of the country will open the door for and that is a very powerful tool."

DIRECT MAIL PRINTER
Saul Whitford, director, Pepper Communications
"Whoever comes in at Royal Mail will have to instil a private-sector ethos into the business, which has been run with public-sector management for a long time. This needs to happen to help ensure that Royal Mail can become a more competitive force in the marketplace. There are companies that can offer a stronger service for a similar or lower price so new management will have to change that. Royal Mail will also need to focus on what it does best and concentrate on its core offering. It needs to get the balance right."