Direct Mailers need To Look At Postal Costs

Postal consultancy Onepost has called on volume mailers and direct marketers to look carefully at their postal arrangements in the light of Royal Mail prices.

Postal consultancy Onepost has called on volume mailers and direct marketers to look carefully at their postal arrangements in the light of Royal Mail prices, which come in to effect this week in the UK.

Royal Mail has increased the cost of a first class stamp by 2p to 34p, whilst a second class stamp has risen by a penny to 24p.

The increases will apply to standard letters weighing up to 100g, with similar rises expected for heavier and larger items in-line with the Pricing in Proportion scale of charges introduced last August.

Graham Cooper, managing director of Onepost, said businesses should ensure they are maximising their postal budgets by considering the full range of postal services now available from the 19 carriers that have been licensed in addition to Royal Mail since the deregulation of postal services in January 2006.

Cooper commented: "It's interesting to note that the cost of sending a single A4 letter will have risen from 30p in March 2006 to a staggering 46p in April 2007 - a rise of over 50 per cent in just 13 months.

Combined with the additional complexity of calculating business mailing tariffs such as Mailsort, with its variants of products, services, specifications and volume related to costs, the time has never been more opportune for business mailers to take a critical look at the way they're managing their postal budgets.

He explained: "The deregulation of the market has provided - for the first time in 350 years - a choice of mail products and services designed to meet the needs of business and volume mailers in a competitive market place.

Business needs to take advantage of that situation to consider whether there are more effective or efficient services available to them from the new licence holders.

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