DHL Global Mail is to close down a loss-making business in the UK, affecting about 295 jobs, ina bid to improve its financial results in the country.
The Deutsche Post DHL subsidiary currently offers a range of mail services to British companies,including domestic mail delivery (sorted and unsorted letters), international mail distribution,delivery of B2C parcels to recipients across Europe, and diverse added-value mail services.
However, it now plans to shut down its international distribution activities for Britishpublishers by March 2012. These including wrapping and packaging newspapers, magazines and otherprinted materials and distributing them to addresses around the world.
“The proposal affects approximately 295 employees across the three sites in Bermondsey, Eghamand Croydon,” DHL Global Mail spokeswoman Sabine Hartmann told CEP-Research. She declined to saywhat volumes were involved in the business. A 90-day consultation has been started with staffrepresentatives.
The business lined up for closure was a “very niche, specialised part of the business”, shestressed. “As with any company, we are reviewing our business everywhere in the world on a regularbasis, and we just found that this particular very niche part of the business is not commerciallyviable for us, and that is why we have proposed to cease these operations.” But Global Mail’s otheractivities in the UK would not be affected by the move, she stressed.
However, according to the Deutsche Post DHL annual report for 2010, DHL Global Mail (UK) Ltd wasloss-making in that year. Asked if the closure would make DHL Global Mail UK profitable, Hartmannresponded: “We certainly aim to run both profitable and sustainable operations and theproposal should help deliver it.”
According to British media reports, rival mail operators are now seeking to pick up newcontracts for international distribution by targeting Global Mail publishing customers. Majorinternational mail operators include Royal Mail, Swiss Post International, La Poste and Spring.
