Royal Mail rival stops deliveries and puts 1,800 postal jobs at risk

ROYAL Mail has been given a huge boost as its main rival suspended home deliveries after losing funding.

Whistl, formerly TNT Post, had been encroaching on Royal Mail with a door-to-door service.

The firm began home deliveries three years ago and dressed its own postmen in orange uniforms.

It operated in Manchester, Liverpool and London and had hoped to expand – sparking warnings that Royal Mail’s profits would be hit.

But yesterday Whistl announced that it has been forced to stop this side of its business after losing financial backing.

Royal Mail shares rose by more than 4 per cent as it saw off its biggest competitor.

LDC – the private equity arm of taxpayer-backed bank Lloyds – decided not to invest in Whistl as plans to expand the service ‘looked challenging’ at a time when the number of letters sent is declining.

Whistl has entered a consultation period for redundancies and 1,800 jobs are at risk. Many of Whistl’s postmen are believed to be on zerohours contracts, so will not be paid while the consultation takes place.

In a letter leaked to the Manchester Evening News, staff were told ‘there is no work at present for those on flexible contracts’.

Les Bayliss, of union Community, said: ‘Understandably, our members are extremely concerned and worried for their futures.’

Royal Mail had suggested that its universal service – delivering to every home six days a week for the same price – was at risk from Whistl’s plans to deliver only to the most profitable areas.

Dave Ward, general secretary-elect of the Communication Work- ers Union, which represents Royal Mail staff, said: ‘The sad truth is if Whistl had been successful then it would have been at the expense of even more job losses in Royal Mail and the end of six-day-a-week deliveries to 29million UK addresses.’

A spokesman for LDC said that two inquiries by Ofcom into pricing and competition in the postal market had caused ‘uncertainty’.

TNT Post had been accused of mishandling parcels and letters after post was found dumped in bushes. The Mail revealed thousands of letters were discarded or delivered late. Customers had blamed TNT Post for missed hospital appointments, lost bills and delayed medical test results.

‘Our members are worried’