First class stamp to cost more than £1, says Royal Mail...

[dutchman]

Inflation-busting price increase comes as postal operator pushes to scrap Saturday deliveries



A first class stamp is to cost more than £1 following an inflation-busting increase, Royal Mail has announced.

The cost of sending letters overnight will rise from 95p to £1.10 in April, Royal Mail confirmed, months after the postal operator warned significant price rises would be necessary unless it was allowed to scrap Saturday deliveries.

The 16pc uplift is well-ahead of inflation, which is currently running at 10.1pc, and follows an 11pc increase last March.

The price of a second class stamp will also increase by 7p to 75p from April 3.

Matthew Upton, director of policy at Citizens Advice, said: “These record-breaking prices couldn’t be coming at a worse time for consumers, who’ll now be paying 64pc more for a first class stamp than five years ago.

“Almost one in five people are already struggling with current prices for second class stamps.”

Royal Mail said the price rise was necessary to keep its Universal Service agreement sustainable, whereby it pledges to deliver anywhere in the country for the same price.

Nick Landon, chief commercial officer at Royal Mail, said: “We need to make these price changes to ensure we can continue to maintain and invest in the one-price-goes-anywhere Universal Service for years to come.”

In December, Royal Mail chairman Keith Williams said a “considerable” increase in the cost of a first class stamp would be needed to balance the books if it was to continue with a six-day letter delivery service.

In his former role as business secretary, Grant Shapps said he would not approve Royal Mail’s plans to axe Saturday rounds.

Royal Mail wants to end weekend letter deliveries in the face of declining volumes. The number of letters sent has dropped by a quarter since the pandemic.

The stamp price rises come as Royal Mail struggles to recover from a cyber attack that left it unable to deliver international post and as the company faces worker unrest over pay and conditions. Postal workers downed tools at the end of last year and voted for further strike action last month.

Mr Upton said: “Royal Mail is choosing to hike prices at a time when millions are missing important letters, thanks to post delays. Nobody should be paying more for this kind of subpar service.

“Ofcom should be holding Royal Mail to account, but it’s letting the company get away with rocketing prices and over two years of missed delivery targets. Enough is enough, it's time for the regulator to act.”

[dutchman]

First class stamp price to rise again to £1.35, says Royal Mail



The price of stamps will rise again on 2 April - the fourth increase in two years for the cost of sending a letter first class.

Royal Mail said the price of a first-class stamp would rise by 10p to £1.35 and second-class stamps would increase by 10p to 85p.

It comes after warning by the loss-making firm over the impact of higher costs and lower demand for letters.

The cost of sending a letter second class from the second of April - 85p - will be the same as it cost to send one first class at the start of 2022.

Nick Landon, chief commercial officer at Royal Mail, said: "We always consider price changes very carefully, but we face a situation where letter volumes have reduced dramatically over recent years while costs have increased.

"It is no longer sustainable to maintain a network built for 20 billion letters when we are now only delivering seven billion.

"As a result of letter volume decline, our posties now have to walk more than three times as far to deliver the same number of letters as before, increasing the delivery costs per letter."

The company said that adults typically spent less than £7 a year on stamped letters and people now received two letters a week on average. It said the cost of stamps remained below European averages.

Royal Mail, which made a loss of £419m last year, has long-argued prices had to rise due to the lack of reform of the one-price-goes-anywhere Universal Service Obligation (USO).

This requires the company to deliver letters to all 32 million UK addresses six days a week, Monday to Saturday.

But parcel deliveries have become more popular - and more profitable - for Royal Mail, which has been a private business for about a decade since it was split from the Post Office.

Consumer groups criticised the latest price rises.

"Royal Mail is choosing to hike prices at a time when millions are left waiting for letters - vital medical appointments, legal documents and benefit decisions - all thanks to post delays. Nobody should be paying more for an unreliable service," said Morgan Wild of Citizens Advice.

"Ofcom should be holding Royal Mail to account, but it's letting the company get away with rocketing prices and nearly half a decade of missed delivery targets. Enough is enough, it's time for the regulator to act."

[dutchman]

Nick Landon, chief commercial officer at Royal Mail, said: "We face a situation where letter volumes have reduced dramatically over recent years."

Well DUH! Maybe that's because they keep putting the price up?

[rebbonk]

"Ofcom should be holding Royal Mail to account, ...

Ofcom is a bl**dy disgrace and should be disbanded.