LONDON (ShareCast) - The Royal Mail is planning to trial a limited Sunday service, the first time the since the group's inception 498 years ago.

The service will begin within the M25 this summer and, if successful, may be expanded nationally.

It will deliver parcels ordered from on-line retailers, rather than all regular post, in a bid to reduce the number of "while you were out" cards left during the week.

It will also help it keep up with companies that are launching their own Sunday parcel delivery services.

"Through these new Sunday services we are exploring ways to improve our flexibility and provide more options for people to receive items they have ordered online," Moya Greene, Royal Mail's Chief Executive, said.

Parcelforce Worldwide, the group's express delivery service, is also set to start a Sunday service from June, to which e-retailers will be able to opt into.

Additionally, the busiest parcel deliveries in the UK will take part in a trial Sunday opening from late summer to allow customers to collect their parcels.

The Communication Workers Union released a statement welcoming the changes.

Deputy General Secretary Dave Ward said: "We have worked closely with Royal Mail to develop how best we can go forward to grow the company together and improve the services for customers. We appreciate that in order to stay competitive in a broadly unregulated sector Royal Mail has to expand its services to its customers.

"We believe that offering Sunday delivery and collection services is the right response from the company. With ever-increasing numbers of people opting to shop online, Sunday services are necessary to deal with the growing demand in parcel delivery.

"Earlier this year we delivered a ground-breaking deal for Royal Mail workers and we are committed to continuing to set the benchmark for terms and conditions across the postal industry. The union is negotiating with Royal Mail nationally to ensure that postal workers who are affected by these changes receive good terms and conditions and where appropriate, that work is performed on a voluntary basis."

NR

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