Monday 21 May 2007 is the date set for the presentation in London of the 8th annual World Mail Awards, and the increasing prestige of these honours is illustrated by a rise to 11 in the number of categories contested.

Next year's awards, to be presented by round-the-world sailing hero Pete Goss, will feature new sponsors Saudi Post and Western Union joining a list already containing some of the worldwide postal industry's biggest organisations.

In addition to the ten categories from 2006, next year's Gala Dinner will see a new World Mail Award recognising Retail Project success in a post office network. The Retail Project award will be made to the postal network that has, in the view of the judges, best implemented a significant retail transformation programme. Organisers Triangle have also amended and extended the entry criteria for some of the other awards. The esteemed Industry Leadership award has now been opened to public nomination (with 15th January set as the deadline for receipt of nominations), while the Customer Service award has been opened up to post office retail networks for the first time.

Triangle have also lined up a real-life inspirational figure to make the presentations to the winners. Ex-marine Pete Goss has competed in three transatlantic and two single-handed round-the-world races. He gained global recognition in the 1996/97 Vendee Globe race when he rescued a fellow competitor from certain death in the hurricane-force winds of the Southern Ocean. He received the Legion d'Honneur from the President of France for this feat, as well as the MBE in the UK and a host of humanitarian awards. With a record of competitive excellence and bravery, Pete Goss is a regular speaker and presenter at senior management conferences and seminars, where his talks focus on the necessary skills, self-belief and determination needed to win.

The full line-up of the 2007 World Mail Awards, to be presented at the Gala Dinner on 21 May in the Champagne Suite of the Novotel Hotel & Conference Centre in Hammersmith, is as follows:

Corporate Social Responsibility: sponsored by Deutsche Post World Net
Customer Service: sponsored by Western Union
E-Commerce: sponsored by Saudi Post
Industry Leadership: sponsored by Pitney Bowes
Innovation: sponsored by Emirates Post
People Management: sponsored by Australia Post
Quality: sponsorship available
Retail Project: sponsorship available
Security: sponsored by Royal Mail
Technology: sponsored by Intermec
Transformation: sponsored by IBM

The award winners will be selected by a distinguished international panel of independent judges, and will benefit from the significant prestige and PR opportunities arising from their recognition as practitioners of excellence and best practice in the worldwide postal industry.

Applications for the 2007 World Mail Awards will open on 2 January. More details on the World Mail Awards (including online entry forms) can be found at www.mailawards.com. Anyone with any questions about entering themselves or nominating others for the 2007 World Mail Awards, sponsoring an award or attending the Gala Dinner should contact varoujan.tekerian@triangle.eu.com

Notes for Editors:

• The first annual World Mail Awards (WMA) were presented in Paris in May 2000 – details of previous ceremonies and winners can be found at www.mailawards.com/wma_home.htm

• World Mail & Express (WMX) events have been running since 1988 and are also organised by Triangle Management Services, based in the UK;

• 2007 will also see a number of other mail and express events in the United Arab Emirates and the UK, as well as the London-based UK Mail Awards in October, and the first Postal & Information Technology Forum in Saudi Arabia in November;

• Press delegates are welcome to attend – for more information on the WMA, WMX or other events, please contact paul.trott@triangle.eu.com

Triangle Management Services Ltd, founded in 1984, is today the pre-eminent independent specialist management services company within the global mail, express and logistics sectors. Triangle offers the following services to clients: Recruitment, Market Research, Consultancy, Conferences and Mergers and Acquisitions - all of which focus primarily on the mail and express industry sectors.