UK mailing comparison service set to launch

A postal comparison service is being launched which will help marketers navigate their way through the host of commercial postal suppliers following full deregulation at the start of next year.

Onepost, a division of mail-sorting software firm Postal Choices, will offer a postal management consultancy service which it claims will be independent of all suppliers.

The service will run clients’ data through One-post’s software to match companies with the mailing providers and services that best suit their needs.

The software is due to be launched online before the end of the year.

Onepost currently matches clients, which include the Big Food Group and IT trainer Learning Tree, with services from mail providers including Royal Mail, DHL, Citispeed and TNT Express.

The company claims that its impartiality will mean it is best placed to help direct marketers and other bulk mailers plot a route through the myriad number of services expected to be launched upon deregulation.

The Postal Services Commission, the regulatory body better known as Postcomm, which was established in 2000, will oversee deregulation of the sector, which has been in preparation since 2002.

Onepost to locate low-price carriers
Print Week, p 34 09-01-2005
By Darryl Danielli
01 September, 2005

Postal Choices has launched its Onepost service, which it claimed can save mailers up to 10% on postal costs.

The firm analyses client mailing files and suggests the best postal deals from a database of suppliers using software it has developed in the last 12 months. These include DHL, CitySpeed, TNT Mail, Express and Royal Mail.

It aims to help mailers take advantage of the increased liberalisation of the postal sector.

“You need an understanding of the requirements and prices of alternative carriers, and the options for data-processing, sorting and mail presentation,” said managing director Graham Cooper. “Then by using a combination of the different (postal) operators’ products we can suggest savings.”

Postal Choices began trading as a standalone operation earlier this year.

Before that its service was only available to parent firm Mail Marketing International’s clients.

But following the merger between Mail Marketing and Formpro, Onepost, headed by Tim Norman and Cooper was launched as a firm in its own right and began targeting new clients.

“While some firms already use the right service and there is no saving at all, others can save between 3-10%,” said Cooper.