Royal Mail recruits ‘Address Detectives’ as it prepares for festive postcode challenge
Royal Mail has taken on more than 3,000 “address detectives” as it prepares to handle 400 million poorly addressed and written Christmas card and letters during the busy festive period.
And it has added a series of new features to its online postcode finder as it encourages people to make sure that they put the correct address on the envelope and include the postcode.
Royal Mail expects to deliver more than two billion items over the festive period but estimates 400 million cards and letters will not be able to be read by its automated sorting machinery either because the postcode has not been included, the item has been poorly addressed or the handwriting style is difficult to read.
But more than 3,000 “address detectives” have been recruited for the festive season to support the 1,400-strong team who will decipher the addresses of items that cannot be read automatically so that the letters can still be processed by the sorting machinery rather than by hand.
Alex Batchelor, Royal Mail’s Marketing Director, said: “Mail volumes almost double on peak days in December and it is important that people properly address their Christmas cards and use the postcode. Letters and cards that have clearly written addresses and a postcode can be read by our machines and handled 20 times faster than by hand.
“Photographs of items that do not go through our sorting machinery, either because they do not have a postcode, or are poorly addressed, are called up on computer screens by our address detectives who use their skills to decipher the intended location and code the envelope so that it can still be sorted automatically rather than by hand.”
He added: “Many of millions of items of mail handled by Royal Mail every year are incorrectly or poorly addressed but are still delivered to the right recipients thanks to the hard work, local knowledge and dedication of postmen and women across the UK.
“But people who take care with their addressing, and use the postcode, will help Royal Mail at its busiest time of the year.”
To help people postcode their Christmas cards and letters, Royal Mail has increased the number of postcodes people can check online, free of charge, from 12 to 20 a day during December.
And a street map has been added to the service – available at www.royalmail.com – to enable people to double check the address, if unsure, by showing its location as well as the postcode.
Postcodes can also be checked by calling 08457 111 222.
Royal Mail is also reminding people that postage prices are now based on the size and shape as well as weight of the item. The vast majority of Christmas cards will still cost the same to send as before the new pricing system was introduced on 21 August. But people sending larger cards should check to see if the item falls into the Large Letter category.
Customers can find more information about Royal Mail’s new pricing system on www.royalmail.com, asking at their local Post Office®, or by calling the dedicated customer helpline on 08456 113 113.
