GREATER ACCESS TO POSTAL SERVICES

A further five highly popular self-service Pay and Post kiosks are being introduced into the local community, in a bid to give customers greater access and choice of location for transacting their postal business.

Additional kiosks will be housed in Shoprite stores in Ramsey, Port Erin and Derby Road in Peel as well as the Sea Terminal, Station Garage, Castletown and the new Customer Services Centre at Postal Headquarters which opens on December 3. This expansion continues Isle of Man Post Office’s strategy to increase the availability of postal services beyond that of the normal Post Office retail network opening hours.

Marty Quine, General Manager Retail Network, Isle of Man Post Office said: “The locations we have chosen reflect the areas where we felt there was a need for additional outlets for postal services. I believe these will be convenient to customers who struggle to find the time to visit a post office during the normal working hours to buy stamps, post parcels and pay bills. Each of the new kiosk sites have early morning and late night opening hours, giving customers flexibility in the time they choose to transact their postal business.”

Meanwhile the Pay & Post kiosk which was installed in the Crosby Hotel in March last year has seen very little customer usage and is not proving commercially viable in this venue. Therefore the kiosk has been withdrawn from the Crosby Hotel and placed in one of the above locations.

Geoff Corkish MBE MHK, Chairman of Isle of Man Post Office said: “We appreciate the withdrawal of the kiosk will be disappointing news to the small number of customers in the Crosby area who did find the postal kiosk convenient and we apologise for any inconvenience it will cause. However, we have to relocate the kiosk in order that it is more cost-effective in terms of revenue for the business. We have consulted with the Member for Middle Howard Quayle MHK and Marown Commissioners explaining our reasons for this move and appreciate their understanding; however the kiosk in this location was heavily underutilised.” 

The kiosks enable customers to weigh, stamp and pay for packages to be posted quickly and efficiently, using a simple touch screen device. As well as the postal capabilities, customers can also pay their electricity, gas, phone bills and government rates through the machines.

Marty Quine said: “We are always keen to receive any feedback from customers about their experience of using the kiosks and an exit poll will be conducted at all the new locations and existing ones, in order to gauge customer feedback about the kiosks, how easy they are to use, their overall experience and whether they would use them again. Customers will also have the opportunity to add any further comments in order that we can continue to improve the standard of service we deliver. All participants who take part in the exit poll no later than December 31 will be entered into our prize draw to win an Isle of Man Post Office Yearbook 2012.”

Pay & Post kiosks were first introduced into the Island in August 2010 in Regent Street Post Office, following a response to customers’ desires to have self-service weighing positions, reduced queuing times and provide quick and simple service to purchase stamps, weigh and pay for letters and parcels and pay utility bills. Following their introduction, kiosks were also placed in Shoprite, Victoria Road, Douglas and the Wessex Garage, Alexander Drive, Douglas. The kiosks have been an overwhelming success with customers praising the out of hours access to postal services and their simplicity to use.

Isle of Man Post Office has continued its relationship with Integrex, one of the UK’s foremost providers of electronic and IT solutions to the retail sectors and the Escher Group, a leading provider of distributed messaging and data management solutions and services to introduce these additional kiosks. 

 

Isle of Man Post Office Wins International Business Of The Year Award

At a glittering ceremony in the Villa Marina last night (Thursday), Isle of Man Post Office won the coveted International business of the year award at the 2012 Awards for Excellence.

Commenting on the award Mike Kelly, Chief Executive of Isle of Man Post Office said: “We are absolutely delighted to have won such a highly sought after award. This reward is in recognition of our commitment to creating an innovative diversification strategy, helping the business to thrive when traditional services and mail volumes are in decline.

Over the last number of years we have grown significantly, particularly with the introduction of Integrated Mailing Solutions (IMS), our specialist business communications division. We have evolved to be able to offer clients based locally and internationally physical and digital mail services which has not only contributed significant financial reward, but has placed Isle of Man Post Office on the map as one of the most up and coming innovative Posts in the world.”

He added: “One of our long-term strategies is to take our trusted third party into the secure electronic communications market. We launched our first digital mail product, „ePostbox‟, this year which is available to clients globally. Customers can for the very first time, receive their postal mail online, anywhere in the world 24/7. We also have an exciting product that will be launched next year, complementing our existing mailing services.”

None of this success would have been possible without the dedicated, loyal and hard working team that makes Isle of Man Post Office.

Mike continued: “We are proud to have some of the longest serving employees on the Island with a very low staff turnover and none of this success would be possible without everyone‟s hard work and dedication in making Isle of Man Post Office so successful. This is a great place to work and we are so fortunate to have not only a heritage of experience and skills but also great creativity and innovation within the business. We strive to ensure this continues now and into the future.

“I would like to thank all our customers, partners, suppliers and Isle of Man Government as our principle stakeholder, indeed everyone associated with us for their support. Each has contributed to making the business so successful and continuing these partnerships will help secure our sustainability into the future. This is a very exciting time for the Post Office as we continue to expand our global client base. However, we remain committed to our Isle of Man based customers and we will continue to play a vital role in the local community.”

Further success was celebrated on the night as Dot Tilbury, General Manager for Isle of Man Stamps and Coins, won the highly coveted “Lifetime Achievement Award.” Dot has worked for the Post Office for 37 years and has built a worldwide reputation for the Stamps and Coins division for producing innovative, high quality and topical stamp issues. Dot received this award for her dedication and tireless work in the community; she is particularly well-known for her involvement in children‟s cycling.

Mike said: “Everyone at the Post Office is delighted that Dot‟s community work has been recognised with this award. She is a key member of the senior management team at the Post Office and we are all thrilled for her. The award to Dot turned the evening into a fantastic night and magnificent double celebration.”

Hosted by Isle of Man Newspapers, the Awards for Excellence is a celebration of the Island‟s success from the business sector, the local community to individuals such as young achiever of the year, volunteer of the year to the prestigious lifetime achievement award.