BBC News Online: Business

UK Post Office name change

Consignia - consign - 'to entrust to the care of'

Post Office branches and uniforms, and brands like Royal Mail and Parcelforce Worldwide will be unaffected by the changes, though.

Post Office chairman Neville Bain said: "We've invested £500m on overseas acquisitions and we now own nearly 20 international companies based in Europe and North America, some with links to the Far East.

"We are already doing much more than the words 'The Post Office' suggest."

The name change goes hand-in-hand with a corporate revolution at the Post Office.

On 26 March, the Post Office will be turned into a state-owned limited company, giving its management more control over key commercial decisions.

This change will allow the company to borrow money which it can then invest. Until now, the organisation needed government approval for most of its business activities.

Post Office chief executive John Roberts said the Consignia name would be seen "principally by our corporate customers in the financial services, telecommunications, home shopping, utilities and advertising and marketing sectors, who together account for nearly a third of our annual £7.5bn turnover".

The name change still needs the approval of the Post Office board. Its introduction is expected to cost about £2m.

According to Mr Roberts, most of the costs would have come anyway, as the group had to change its stationery to comply with the Companies Act on becoming a plc.

In addition to its traditional services of letter and parcel delivery, the Post Office now provides services such as e-commerce fulfilment, billing and customer management, logistics and warehousing.