Royal Mail Carrier Info & Tips
Royal Mail is the national postal service of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland). Royal Mail Group Limited is the name of the management company. The company has two main divisions:
- Royal Mail: United Kingdom and Northern Ireland delivery of written correspondence primarily (up to 2 kg);
- Parcel Force is an international courier service that delivers bulky parcels worldwide (over 2 kg).
It was founded in 1516. It was the British who developed and implemented most of the principles for the delivery of postal items, including the stamp system. Until 2011, for almost 500 years, Royal Mail was a state-owned company, but then went public. Until 2015, all shares were sold out and it became fully privatized.
In addition to main services, the company provides a lot of related products for different types of clients. The staff is more than 150 thousand people, and in total in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland there are about 15 thousand offices.
History
The company was founded by King Henry the Eighth in 1516. However, the mail did not receive its usual format immediately. The first important reforms took place in 1635 during the reign of Charles the First, when a centralized delivery system was developed throughout the island, including the staff of messengers, horses and a number of post offices. The delivery system worked only between large cities, and delivery to small towns was possible by local suppliers. The company provided services to individuals, and also served government orders.
An important feature of mail in those days was tariffication, which was not the same from the state of things today. Often the service was too expensive for a wide range of people. There are two main reasons:
- The price has changed taking into account the distance;
- Delivery payment was calculated for each sheet of paper sent.
The second problem was the speed of delivery, and it was solved by the invention of a stamp with the date of dispatch.
More than a century later, Royal Mail implemented a delivery reform. The messengers were replaced by postal carriages; the trains were involved in the delivery process. Initially, these were trailed mail cars, and mail trains appeared already in the first half of the 19th century.
One of the key mail reforms, which influenced the general principles of the existence of this service, took place in 1840. Its initiator is Rowland Hill school teacher.
He came up with several changes that made the postal service more efficient and affordable for all Britons and, at the same time, commercially viable.
- The cost of delivery of a standard letter becomes common: 1 pence.
- As a result, the compelled need to pay for delivery of letters only in cash has disappeared.
- Postal stamps were first introduced.
The popularity of mail in the UK has grown rapidly, and the number of letters sent has doubled over the year. The other large countries like Russia and France, have picked up these concepts immediately. UK is one of the few countries in the world where paper letter delivery remains very popular in the 21st century.
However, the commercial performance of Royal Mail began to grow only at last decades of the XIX century. At the same time, the company began delivering mail on bicycles, and this has become another glorious British tradition, which is preserved today.
The main achievement of the company in the twentieth century is the creation of a network of National Giro Bank banks. It was the revolution for the British financial sector because banking services became comfortable for the working and middle class. Prior to this, banks were focused only on a rich population.
Services
Royal Post services are divided into two main categories by type of the client:
- Personal;
- Business.
Let’s take a look for company’s solutions.
Personal services
Here we are talking about postal services that are provided to a wide range of individuals. The company focuses on mail or post-oriented solutions for customers, and offers three main categories of products.
Sending
In this category, mail delivery services for common clients are collected. They include two main subcategories.
UK Services
- Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed by 9am: for valuable things that must be delivered around the country before the next business day. There is the option of full UK tracking. Up to 2 kg.
- Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm: solution similar to the previous one, but the delivery will be delivered in the afternoon. Full tracking is available too. Up to 20 kg.
- Royal Mail Tracked 24: delivery in the country within 24 hours with full UK post tracking and reporting via SMS or e-mail. Up to 20 kg.
- Royal Mail Tracked 48: a service similar to the previous one, including UK postage tracking, but delivery will be completed within 48 hours. Up to 20 kg.
- Royal Mail Signed For 1st Class: Tomorrow day delivery, including Saturdays, with a signature. Up to 20 kg.
- Royal Mail Signed For 2nd Class: a service similar to the previous one, but delivery takes three days. Up to 20 kg.
- Royal Mail 1st Class: Standard one-day delivery. Up to 20 kg.
- Royal Mail 2nd Class: standard delivery within three days. Up to 2 kg.
- Royal Mail Sameday: the most urgent delivery on the day of departure. No weight restrictions.
International Services
- International Tracked & Signed: delivery outside the islands with max tracking, signature and free return option. Sending to Europe is 3-5 working days, to other continents - 5-7 days. Up to 2 kg.
- International Tracked: a service similar to the previous one, exclude one thing. Royal Mail international tracked doesn’t require a signature.
- International Signed: a service similar to International Tracked & Signed, but without Royal Mail com tracking.
- International Standard: Royal Mail international standard delivery across Europe (3-5 business days) and the world (6-7 business days) with less compensation, compared to previous types of items. Up to 2 kg.
- International Economy: non-priority low-cost delivery worldwide for 2-12 weeks. Up to 2 kg.
Track and manage
This is a category of related mail services. Royal Mail provides a basic set of services, unlike some major postal services in other countries.
- Delivery world & United Kingdom post tracking. Royal Mail tracker tool is available at the company’s official website.
- Forwarding mail in case of a change of address. The company will redirect correspondence to a new address and notify all senders of its change.
- Payment for mail services online at the official website.
- Temporary change of address or storage of correspondence during the absence of the recipient at the main address.
Stamps and supplies
Sale of collection stamps and series, as well as thematic gift sets and RM’s merch.
Business Services
Royal Mail’s business services section contains three main scopes of work.
Shipping
This is a category of mail and parcel delivery services worldwide for business needs. The company provides favorable conditions for cooperation for regular activities.
- Sending Parcels: mass sending parcels around the planet with the ability to track at every stage, urgent delivery and so on. The list of products is similar to the services for individual customers described above.
- Sending Mail: mailing lists for existing and new customers, etc.
- Managing Returns: Streamline customer return processes.
Marketing
Helping businesses improve customer service.
- Commercial mailing lists: strengthening the user base, increasing sales.
- Consumer analytics: identifying the target audience of the business and various client characteristics to provide a strategy for working with clients in the form of analytical reports.
Manage Mail
Additional commercial services.
- New Royal Mail Hybrid Mail: Create mail delivery streams in a variety of ways
- Business PO Box: creating a commercial mailing address
- Early collections: morning mail collection
- Timed Deliveries: delivery of items at a strictly specified time
- Pre-sorted deliveries: pre-sort correspondence before sending
Examples of tracking numbers
Standard (cheapest) types of delivery receive a basic identifier R at the beginning of the name. When sent outside the islands, the shipment receives a new number, and it cannot be tracked.
All packages with the “Signed For” prefix (Royal Mail tracking is available) receive an identifier that consists of two letters, nine digits and two letters. The last letters indicate the country of origin; in our case it is the Great Britain (GB). GB. Royal Mail tracking number begin with the letter "R": RNххххххххххGB.
Parcel Force packages have an identifier with an “E” at the beginning, for example, EBxxxxxxxxxGB, EGxxxxxxxxxGB, EMxxxxxxxxxGB. Note that Global Value product does not have a Royal Mail track function.
Conclusion
Today, RoyalMail is the oldest company in his country. Nevertheless, the policy of continuous development and improvement of services is maintained. Royal Mail's long-term goal is to be recognized as the best mail service in the UK and Europe. The management relies on loyalty to historical traditions and time-tested professional principles, corporate responsibility and openness to innovation.
Serving 29 million addresses, the company provides communication between private clients, business organizations and government agencies, guaranteeing reliable and timely message delivery. The basis for success has always been a high quality service and an impeccable reputation. The client only needs one fact of cooperation with Royal Mail to understand this.
The perfectionist approach is a professional standard for each postman. Postman’s work is considered to be associated with a special social mission, and postmen has the same lesson as firefighters, police officers and teachers in English elementary schools. That says a lot.
And the fact that the company decided to optimize non-environmentally friendly business processes will complete the review. Royal Mail was one of the first to announce a course on the search and implementation of technologies that would allow the postal service to minimize the use of natural resources and reduce the negative impact on the artificial and natural environment. The "green" strategy was built on the principle of five R: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Reform.
