Royal Mail stamp price increase release for National press (for The Mailing Room)

May 9, 2012 - PRLog -- SMEs STUCK WITH £2,000 BILL FOR STAMPS.

This equates to an extra £5462 a year for the average SME, at a time when the double dip recession is already pushing the country’s entrepreneurs to the limit.

Royal Mail announced its new stamp tariff in March this year, after the regulator Ofcom lifted some of its price controls.  From 30 April, the cost of a first class stamp has been raised from 46p to 60p, and the price of a second class stamp has risen from 36p to 50p.  To post large letters increases from 75p to 90p for first class, and from 58p to 69p for second class.

George Bevan, Managing Director at The Mailing Room, said: “We have been expecting these huge price rises for almost two years, as Royal Mail has been increasingly deregulating and streamlining its operations to make it a more attractive proposition for privatisation.  Today’s increase in stamp prices meets Royal Mail’s long term objectives, however it will not sit so comfortably with the many thousand small business owners who rely on the postal service to communicate with their customers.”

For some SMEs though, it may not be all bad news.  George adds: “Royal Mail has kept the prices for their franked mail competitively low in a bid to encourage business customers to pre-pay for their postage.  The franking price for a first class letter is 44p, and only 31p for a second class letter.  In our experience, a business which sends just six letters a day using stamps would save money with a franking machine3.  In fact, we estimate that 250,000 UK businesses could benefit from switching from stamps to franking.”

Using a SMART franking machine allows business customers to access all Royal Mail’s services at a single point – including recorded delivery, special delivery, packet post and parcels – at a discounted rate and could ensure that companies are not unduly affected by the increase in stamp costs.  In addition to money savings, there are also time savings from not having to visit the post office for stamps or to get parcels mailed, as well as an added professional touch from an advertising logo and return address on each envelope sent out.

For further information visit themailingroom.com or call 0161 797 7778.

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Press release issued by Annette Massam – annettemassam@yahoo.co.uk or 07810 865332. Alternative contact: Andrew Parmenter, Marketing Manager on andrew.parmenter@themailingroom.com or 0161 797 7778
Notes to Editors
1 According to The Mailing Room’s database of active customers with around 10 employees, the average client sends on average 15 letters per day.  This equates to 75 letters a week, costing £37.50 per week (if each letter was sent using a second class stamp), which totals £1,950 per year.
2 The cost to send 75 letters using a second class stamp before 30 April 2012, was £27 per week (75 x 36p), which totals £1,404 per year.  This is £546 cheaper than the cost to send the same volume of letters using second class stamps after 30 April 2012.
3 A second class stamp is 50p, a second class frank is 31p which equates to a 19p saving per letter.  Sending 120 letters per month (6 letters per day x 20 days in a month) using stamps would cost £60, while franking would cost £37.20.  A franking machine costs around £20 per month, so significant savings are possible.

The Mailing Room
Founded by George Bevan and his wife Helen in 1999 as FP Mailing, they are currently in the process of being rebranded to The Mailing Room provides businesses with FP franking machines approved by Royal Mail, TNT and UK Mail.  The business serves around 10,000 customers, from SMEs to public sector organisations including local authorities and the NHS.