Essex business leaders are crossing their fingers that post services will not be left out in the cold in the wake of the huge shake-up planned for Royal Mail.

Consignia Royal Mail's parent company must reduce costs to the tune of £1.2 billion following huge losses and increasing competition.

This could mean axing 30,000 jobs, but a spokeswoman for Consignia pledged the bottom line is to "provide an improved service".

David Crozier, chief executive of the Essex Chambers of Commerce, said businesses rely on Consignia to provide a "vital communications link".

"We await to see whether the changes at Consignia will lead to a compromise in service quality," he said.

He pointed out that even though the service had improved over the past 12 months, there was still room for improvement. Post, including vital mail such as invoices, is still delayed.

Mr Crozier said he shared the concern of business leaders that changes at Consignia could mean increased charges.

But the Consignia spokeswoman explained it was too early to say whether or not the review would lead to increased charges.

She said the review, intended to cut operational costs, was not likely to mean the loss of special business services, such as the provision of mail shots. But the loss of second postal delivery was one option being considered.

One improvement would be hitting its 92.8 per cent target of next-day delivery.

Consignia is the parent company of Royal Mail, Parcelforce Worldwide and Post Office Ltd.

Published Tuesday December 18, 2001