Has competition in postal services delivered?

Two years on from the liberalisation of the postal services industry, has this supply-side policy to make the market more contestable made any noticeable difference to the quality of service, prices and investment in delivery? A new report casts doubt on the changes to the industry since the market opened up to competition at the start of 2006 to businesses such as UK Mail. Robert Peston reports for the BBC in this video clip. His feature asks whether the universal service provision is a millstone round the neck of the Royal Mail which remains in deep financial trouble.

Sunset for the Rock

For the first time since the 1970s a business operating in the private sector has been nationalised. On February 17th February 2008 the government announced that Northern Rock plc was to be taken into public ownership for a ‘temporary’ period following a failure to find private sector backers for the ailing mortgage lender. This is a momentous day in British politics and a landmark too for the economy. The last public limited company to return to the state sector was Rail Track (now known as Network Rail) which was re-nationalised and made into a not-for-profit business in 2001.