PostNL will decide early in 2013 on whether to roll out TNT Post UK’s end-to-end delivery services to other parts of the UK.

The company said today that the trials started in April are showing “excellent results” so far, with around 300 TNT Post delivery staff delivering mail to about 350,000 households in West London and parts of Central London.

The trial is attempting to break the strangehold that Royal Mail has on the last mile in the UK.

Read more: TNT Post UK end-to-end delivery pilot “progressing well” | Post & Parcel.

Olympic gold medal-winning track cyclist Laura Trott is set to receive an unexpected honour of two golden post boxes in Essex and Hertfordshire after a mix-up over where she grew up.

Royal Mail has pledged to paint a red post box gold in the home town of every British Olympic champion, so Trott was looking forward to a box in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, getting the special makeover.

via Double post box honour after mix-up – Regional News – Newmarket Journal.

More than 100 workers have been quarantined after a major chemical alert at a Royal Mail sorting office.

Police, firefighters and paramedics were called to the building in Pittman Way, Fulwood, at around 4pm on Monday after an unknown substance was detected.

It is believed a radiation alarm sounded in the loading bay of the building and airborne chemical traces were then picked up by a handheld device.

Emergency services were called and all 120 workers, who had been on the day shift at the site, were evacuated to the car park, where they were told they were not allowed to leave.

via UPDATE: Chemical alert seals sorting office – Local – Lancashire Evening Post.

From USPS News Link:

New Jersey’s last politically appointed Postmaster, Frank Leone, is retiring after 48 years.

Leone was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1967.

He was living in Oakland, NJ, when he became involved in local politics. After winning a seat on the Borough Council, he lost his job with an engineering firm — which wasn’t such a bad thing. “If this hadn’t happened, I never would have been a Postmaster,” he said.

The walls of Leone’s office are covered with dozens of framed collectible stamps and postcards, and photographs of himself shaking hands with top-ranking postal officials — including PMG Pat Donahoe — reminders of a man who served his community as its Postmaster for 48 years.

When Leone leaves office, it will be the end of an era.

The perfect love affair is one which is conducted entirely by post, said Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw.

The rhythms of the world have changed somewhat, and today’s digital romances are available anywhere, anytime and for less than the price of a postage stamp. But what is good for ordinary citizens is not necessarily good for the old postal monopolies.

Across the developed world, mail volumes have fallen steadily as people find all kinds of ways to communicate online. Even the primacy of physical legal documents is under threat with electronic documents and signatures actively promoted in many countries. E-commerce has boosted parcel deliveries, but these are frequently picked up by express companies like DHL and UPS, which are far more nimble, customer-oriented and technologically advanced than the lumbering government mail services. The Internet does not simply compete with the traditional postal services, it de facto annihilates them.

More: Bringing Russia Post Into the 21st Century | Opinion | The Moscow Times.

THE retail industry has slammed the deal between a Melbourne online retailer and Australia Post to help sell inexpensive merchandise from overseas into the local market.

“This development from Australia Post is uniquely disappointing from an Australian retailer’s perspective,” said the chief of the Australian National Retailers Association, Margy Osmond.

“We certainly think Australia Post’s priority should be Australian online retailers before anyone else.”

More: Industry slams Australia Post online retail deal.

The Royal Mail is looking to establish new digital marketing and digital communications agency rosters worth up to £11m.

It is seeking to appoint three consultancies to the four-year framework, working on digital, marketing and design projects.

Over four years, the projects are estimated to be worth between £3.7m and £11m

More: Royal Mail seeks digital consultancies | Latest Opportunities | Design Week.

POST office users across Teesside are struggling to find services due to “temporary” closures lasting years.

A total of five post offices in our area have been “temporarily closed” – leaving residents without a vital service on their doorstop.

A Freedom of Information request has uncovered a string of branches shut for more than a year where no replacement provided.

More: Anger at closure of Post Office closures on Teesside – Local News – News – Gazette Live.