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Council Tax bills in Bath delivered by bike

Council says deal with mail firm saves it £6,000 a year; delivery firm plans to expand to Slough and Edinburgh

Bath & North East Somerset has sought to minimise the cost of sending out Council Tax bills this year – by having them delivered by bike to 35,000 households in Bath.

According to the council, its new contract with Bristol-based mail firm CFH saves it £6,000 a year. CFH prints the bills, and uses its Docmail Local Post service to deliver to addresses within the BA1 and BA2 postcodes.

A spokesman for Bath & North East Somerset Council told the newspaper: "The council is continually looking for new ways to reduce both printing and postage costs, take advantage of more environmentally-friendly services and improve customer services for residents."

Joe Broadway, Docmail Local Post’s postal services director, added: "This is a first for Bath, with 35,000 items being delivered to those residents in BA1 and BA2 by bike.

“Our delivery team is becoming a regular sight around the streets of the city, as more and more businesses recognise the advantages of using a local service for their local mail," he went on.

“By using this complete, local service, the council is able to generate considerable savings in postage costs, as well as provide an environmentally friendly delivery service to residents in Bath. Our ongoing relationship with Bath & North East Somerset Council is a direct result of our commitment to quality, cost, lead times and customer service.

“Docmail Local Post is a postal service for companies who operate locally, and recognise the benefits of physical mail. The mail is collected, sorted then delivered all within the local area.

He added, “With national postal charges soon to be increased again for businesses who use franking machines, we are pledging to keep our prices the same, so not only are we saving on carbon emissions, we are helping businesses keep costs down.”

Besides Bath, Docmail also operates in Bristol at the moment, and plans to start operating in Slough and Edinburgh.

 

 

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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4 comments

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A V Lowe | 10 years ago
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Royal Mail haemorrageing money and unable to manage costs claims bikes are inefficient & unsafe - meantime TNT and other competitors are even buying 'Royal Mail' bikes and delivering the mail faster & cheaper.

Bath operation photo suggests that they are not really serious in cycle delivery - yet, given the off-road bikes with no real carrying capacity and hub gears/rim brakes.

Check out ECLF - Cycle Logistics.

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dave atkinson replied to A V Lowe | 10 years ago
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A V Lowe wrote:

Bath operation photo suggests that they are not really serious in cycle delivery - yet, given the off-road bikes with no real carrying capacity and hub gears/rim brakes.

you want to try a 30km round in bath on a postie bike and see if you'd prefer something lighter, with more gears.

if you're delivering light letters somewhere hilly, a normal bike and a courier bag makes a lot more sense than a load lugger. horses for courses. i know talitha does her round on a specialized tricross, which is more or less ideal.

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oddbydefault replied to A V Lowe | 10 years ago
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A V Lowe wrote:

Bath operation photo suggests that they are not really serious in cycle delivery - yet, given the off-road bikes with no real carrying capacity and hub gears/rim brakes.

I can assure you that we're quite serious! They're not off-road bikes - surprisingly rapid hybrids actually. I personally don't think they're ideal (as Dave mentioned - I use a Spesh Tricross with slicks) but they do a fine job for some of the staff.

Bath is very hilly in places, and we cover multiple postcodes/areas per person (unlike RM). Fine for the town center, but for me, lugging a steel 3 speed delivery bike across 30 odd miles with thousands of ft of climbing would be a joke.

Handlebar bags are ideal for our work - we handle mostly C5/DL envelopes with a few large letters. I can carry over 200 in a handlebar bag... obviously with 2 panniers that's dramatically increased.

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Leviathan | 10 years ago
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Spend the saved money and 100 times more on fixing the roads.

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