SAT - Allover - Chris Morphet
Monday 9 December 2024
 2.7°C   SW Light Breeze
SCT - £3000 innovation grant
Ocean Kinetics - The Engineering Experts

Business / Lack of posties and more online buying behind increased waits, Royal Mail says

The mail arrives at Belmont, Unst. photo: Royal Mail

ROYAL Mail says a lack of postal workers in Shetland and an increase in online buying has led some to some people waiting longer for their post. 

Post is now flown from Glasgow, instead of Aberdeen, to the isles – with concerns raised earlier in the year that would lead to longer delivery times.

A post on a Facebook page for Living and Working in Shetland, which is administered by Promote Shetland, saw commenters this week criticise the length of time it is regularly taking for post to be sent north from Glasgow.

Catherine Puxley, who wrote the post, said items are “consistently sitting in Glasgow for two-three days”.

She said she was not criticising the local postal workers, but added Shetlanders were being “seriously let down” by Royal Mail.

But Royal Mail said its Glasgow hub was not at fault for the perceived delays in the system.

It said a combination of a number of vacancies and an increase in online purchasing in Shetland had meant there was more mail to deal with at the Lerwick delivery office.

“Delivering mail consistently and on time is our top priority,” a Royal Mail spokesperson said.

“At Lerwick delivery office the delivery of mail has, on occasion, been disrupted due to vacancies and high demand.

“During these periods, our posties work hard to minimise delays and return the service to normal as soon as possible.

“We are actively recruiting and encourage anyone who has concerns about their deliveries to contact us directly.”

The move from Aberdeen to Glasgow for mail deliveries came after a pay deal was agreed by airport workers last year.

There were concerns that commitments agreed in the deal around changes to working times may not be met if mail flights to Scottish islands from Aberdeen and Inverness continued.

Become a member of Shetland News

 

The Communication Workers’ Union said in January there was a “potential significant impact” on flights which transport mail to the Scottish islands.

It was suggested this could include mail missing connecting flights.

The proposed solution was for mail for the islands to be processed in Glasgow instead of Aberdeen or Inverness, and flown from the city’s airport.

Become a member of Shetland News

Shetland News is asking its many readers to consider paying for membership to get additional features and services: -

  • Remove non-local ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.

 
Categories
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 

Newsletters

Subscribe to a selection of different newsletters from Shetland News, varying from breaking news delivered on the minute, to a weekly round-up of the opinion posts. All delivered straight to your inbox.

Daily Briefing Newsletter Weekly Highlights Newsletter Opinion Newsletter Life in Shetland Newsletter

JavaScript Required

We're sorry, but Shetland News isn't fully functional without JavaScript enabled.
Head over to the help page for instructions on how to enable JavaScript on your browser.

Your Privacy

We use cookies on our site to improve your experience.
By using our service, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

Browser is out-of-date

Shetland News isn't fully functional with this version of .
Head over to the help page for instructions on updating your browser for more security, improved speed and the best overall experience on this site.

Interested in Notifications?

Get notifications from Shetland News for important and breaking news.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

Have you considered becoming a member of Shetland News?

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please consider paying for membership and get the following features and services: -

  • Remove non-local ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.