Isle of Man Post Office is to host the inaugural Small Posts & Islands Postal Forum this week.
The three-day forum, which starts tomorrow (Tuesday) at the Sefton Hotel, will be opened by the Chief Minister. The forum will see more than 30 delegates attending from Posts from around the world including the Seychelles, Swazi, Barbados, Switzerland, the Falklands and Estonia to name just a few.
There are many postal conferences and workshops held around the world each year, but few provide an opportunity for small postal administrations to discuss and share their common challenges and to explore the opportunities there may be to work together. Isle of Man Post Office agreed to plan and host the event after speaking to Derek Osborn, a leading postal authority, believing that there was a gap in the conference market for such an event.
The forum is by invitation only and is aimed at key decision makers and senior officials from postal administrations around the world.
With declining mail volumes, technical substitution, economic uncertainty and the changing social tenders of customers, all Posts are facing the same kind of challenges, be it a large Post or small. Smaller Posts do not always have the resources to invest heavily in solutions to these global problems and instead have to rely on creativity and resourcefulness to continue to compete successfully. The purpose of the forum is to allow small Posts to come together to exchange ideas and best practice, explore current and future trends, network, address common issues and identify opportunities.
Mike Kelly, Chief Executive of Isle of Man Post Office, said:
"We are delighted to host this inaugural forum and the interest from Posts around the world that it has generated. I believe there are many benefits for small Posts meeting together to discuss our changing and exciting industry and I very much look forward to the next three days. We have put together an excellent varied programme with some very interesting speakers. I am confident the forum will be a success and hope it will flourish in the years ahead. It also provides us with the opportunity to showcase the Isle of Man to visitors and there is time within the programme to do this."
Connect with the Post Office PR Team to keep up to date with news and press information.