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Readers' letters: Stand up to EU on post office plans - 31/07/2008



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Published Date: 31 July 2008
Thousands of post offices have been closed down under Conservative and New Labour Governments.
Up till the late 1990s, Royal Mail had a monopoly of the UK postal services and was able to support a twice-a-day universal delivery and collection service throughout Britain, even in remote places.

Then along came two EU Directives – 97/67/EU an
d 20002/39/EC – together with other EU rules relating to state aid and government subsidies, which have caused Royal Mail and its subsidiary, Post Offices Ltd, to suffer severe financial loss.

These directives were a step- by-step process, but without public knowledge from Parliament and the EU, gradually and secretly dismantled Royal Mail.

They opened the door wide for public sector companies, mainly the Dutch TNT and German Deutsche Post DHL, to cherry pick the profitable areas, leaving the less profitable to Royal Mail.

Britain cannot go to these countries and do the same, and it even leaves the British taxpayer paying subsidies for foreign companies, as well as compensation for their closures.

So I would say to those MPs from the three major parties, who have recently engaged the public to fight for our post offices, to now go to their leaders and insist that they demand their respective MEPs in Brussels to stop this destruction of our national public service and fight against our country being victimised by the EU Commission, instead of standing by and letting it happen.

MRS Frances A Fox
UKIP
Tollgate,
Bretton,
Peterborough

Help give dogs a home
At its recent stall on the city market, Kama's Cave Greyhound Sanctuary made £126.19 in aid of the dogs.

It is now appealing for more things to sell and knitting wool for fund-raising.

Regular customers at the stall will be pleased to know that the first three greyhounds who were there, Bramble, PJ and Timmy, have all now gone to their homes.

Many thanks to all the customers.
D A Benton
Fletton Avenue,
Peterborough



Hotel campaign spurred by support
I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of the Peterborough Liberal Democrats, and all those who have already lent their support to the SOS Great Northern Hotel campaign, to thank the Evening Telegraph for the excellent coverage of the issue.

From the coverage, and the hard work of our local volunteers, we have surpassed our original 600-signature target (by some way) and have seen a resurgence of online support.

Coupled with the excellent response from members of the public to our campaign stall in the city centre last Saturday, we have now decided to keep the campaign going.

For those who are still not aware, the Great Northern Hotel is still facing being demolished, according to the council's Masterplan.

The hotel has been there for thousands of local people who have needed a venue to get married, celebrate, have a meal or simply enjoy a drink and somewhere to stay.



The full article contains 501 words and appears in Peterborough ET newspaper.
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  • Last Updated: 31 July 2008 3:09 PM
  • Source: Peterborough ET
  • Location: Peterborough
 
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Dan Jackson,

31/07/2008 12:05:48
Personally Cllr Darren Fower I hope they get rid of the Great Northern. At best They should move the building to a new location. It is a horrible hotel, outdated and very unfriendly to visitors.
2

FTR,

31/07/2008 12:32:52
Unfriendly?

What about it's role as a historical building? (Ignoring the modern extension)
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Sean Hamill,

Peterborough 31/07/2008 13:45:28
Dan are you serious?
The Great Northern Hotel has some of the best customer service in East Anglia, and perhaps the UK...
My friends and family have used this hotel to stay overnight, have parties, functions and even just a quick pint before catching the train - NEVER have they given us cause for complaint, in fact it's been superb.
The building is unique, it has history and if you had any taste at all you'd realise it is amongst the best venues we have to offer.
What a stupid comment to say it's unfriendly and outdated - do you perhaps prefer Yates' or the Solstice, or any of the other bland chain owned outlets whose customer service is beyond a joke?
Honestly, I know there's no accounting for taste, but please try and think before making comments like that!!!
4

Dan Jackson,

31/07/2008 13:56:39
Well Sean actually I prefer quality establishments and you don't get a lot of that in this city. Obviously if you think the Great Northern is quality you should try some decent hotels in other places as this would not even stand up against average ones in most cities.

2 months ago I had 6 friends come to the city and book to stay at the hotel.

The rooms had poor decor and needed updating. The staff spoke little English and were very unwilling to help and quite short and sharp when my friends asked directions etc. My friends like me have stayed in hoteals all over the UK and world and rate this as one of the worst possible.

I also had a business meeting and food there in April and found the staff unhelpful and the quality of the food etc to be average at best.

So I have experienced the hotel and so have my friends and business acquaintances and all had bad things to say so my comments are more than justified.

The only good thing about the hotel is it's location and move the building so it can give way to the development.
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Fentyke,

31/07/2008 14:39:00
Mrs Fox, If your going to write a letter susch as your, please get youtr facts right. I work within the postal market and your letter is riddled with huge, sweeping inaccuracies.
The EU directives you refer to have not caused RM to suffer sever finacial loss. In fact, if the truth be known the main reason RM is in the state it's in is becauae of their own internal mismanagement and poor invetment, ignoring the home market, a changing economy and a requirement to maintain a PO counters network which can no longer be run at cost let alone profit and the astonomical payments they have to make to UK Gove PLC. All this was happening well before the EU directives came into force and far from being hidden from public view, very publically. Having said that i'll conceed only those with a vested interest seemed to be aware of what was happeneing and when.
I would also like to point out that whilst TNT are now a major player in the UK mail market, DHL are not. Far from it. There are at least 3 companies who carry more considerably more domestic mail than DHL.
RM's competitors have not cherry picked the most profitable business either. Unlike public mail which runs at a huge loss, most bulk business mail is profitable. If RM's prices were competetive, TNT et al would not have won any of it. All they've done is win business becasue their supply chain and overheads are less than RM meaning they can offer cheaper prices. I should also point out that most of RM's competitors use RM to deliver their mail. The postal regulator is there to ensure that RM's make money from the mail they deliver on behalf of their competitors. So you see, they even make money from the mail they've 'lost'.
Unfortunately for RM they have ignored their overheads for far too long and it has now come back and bitten them to such an extent that they are now unable to compete on a pricing basis. In the current economic climate, customers will always buy on price first and service second.
The one thing
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Dan Jackson,

31/07/2008 14:43:51
For once I agree with you Fentyke, I think it is convenient for Mrs Fox to blame the EU. For the past 15-20 years the Royal Mail has been told to overhaul or fall behind and it's now happening on a grand scale.
7

KiwiinPboro,

31/07/2008 14:57:41
Sean, your comment cracked me up - "The Great Northern Hotel has some of the best customer service in East Anglia, and perhaps the UK".

You clearly have never been to any decent hotels. This place is a disgrace and I second Dan Jackson's comments about customer service.

It struggles to have the best customer service in hotels located at Peterborough station never mind Peterborough.

Perhaos you should go stay at some decent hotels and you'll soon change your mind
8

Sean Hamill,

31/07/2008 15:33:55
hahaha I've stayed all over the world thanks, stayed in hovels and 5 star luxury and the Great Northern stands the test of most! It's a historic building with a fantastic owner who's done so much for this area, his staff are sometimes young and yes even foreign but that's the norm nowadays, All of them are always well turned out, the food is silver service, the buffets etc have always been superb for us (I've eaten at award winning places the world over as a gauge) and I've not had 1 single complaint from 50+ guests at 3 parties and numerous other guest etc...
Of course there are better hotels, where the decor is more expensive etc and others that have more rooms, bigger bars etc, but none I can think of so close to the city centre and with such history etc..
I guess it's a matter of taste, I seem to find their staff helpful and friendly but some may not, a-la councilors when drunk etc hahaha

What hotels in Peterborough beat this one?
9

KiwiinPboro,

31/07/2008 15:58:26
Well Peterborough in general has awful hotels but the best is the Marriott which does not say a lot.

As you say it's a matter of choice. I spent 8 years traveling the world for a company until 5 years ago and can say that the Great Northern ranks in my worst 5 hotels I ever stayed in or went too and it is not cheap, far from it.

I wonder what Helen Clark would say about it?
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Sean Hamill,

31/07/2008 16:19:50
hahaha Helen Clark is barred I believe, the story goes she was drunk (or 3 parts drunk) and threatened staff until she was booted out, dont get me started on peterborough councilors though, crooks, liars and theives for the most part!!! most convicted ones too hahaha..

The Marriott is a complete joke, my god you have bad taste! it's pretentious, over priced and the service/food is as bland as I've ever experienced..
I was a member of their gym for a while but had to leave after numerous alrecations over poor food, expensive drinks and overly pretentious staff.
I guess we're all different and there's no accounting for taste. In my opinion the Great Northern is a fantastic building offering great service with a unique owner, places like this are few and far between due to the massive chains like Marriott etc and their coperate greed overtaking us all... oh well.
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