Will a price hike herald the end of postal mail as we know it?
- Standard first class postage increases by 30p to £1.65 – an increase of 22.2%
- Fifth price increase in less than three years
- A rise in postal rates could lead to a ‘doom spiral of decline’ for Royal Mail
Businesses have warned that Royal Mail’s inflation-busting price rise for first-class stamps could ‘herald the end of an affordable postal service’.
Standard first class postage will rise by 30p from today to £1.65 – an increase of 22.2 per cent.
The fifth price rise in less than three years comes as Royal Mail’s owner International Distribution Service, led by CEO Martin Seidenberg, is bought by Daniel Kretinsky.
Worries: Royal Mail’s owner International Distribution Service, led by CEO Martin Seidenberg (pictured), is being bought by Daniel Kretinsky
Royal Mail also plans to restrict second class deliveries to every other weekday.
The rise in first class postal rates could lead to a ‘doom spiral of decline’ for Royal Mail, the Greeting Card Association (GCA) has warned, which fears a ‘premium, unlimited, unregulated first class stamp that is out of reach of (consumers) ‘.
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