Customers ready to pay for first class post (UK)

Residential customers would rather pay a premium for next-day postal delivery than see standards fall, according to Postwatch.

In its latest evidence to the independent review of the impact of competition on the postal market, the consumer watchdog said users were opposed to any move away from the one-price-goes-anywhere service.

Under the terms of the universal service obligation, Royal Mail has to offer one delivery a day to every address in the UK, six days a week. The way this is paid for became a pressing issue this month when Royal Mail estimated the service made a loss of about GBP 100m last year.

Postwatch chair Millie Banerjee said today: “Postwatch is a keen supporter of a sustainable universal postal service which meets the needs of senders and receivers.

“We are acutely aware that declining mail volumes and the recent announcement by the Royal Mail that the UPS has become loss making gives customers real cause for concern about the future of the service they value.”

Included in Postwatch’s submission are the results of research carried out on its behalf among residential customers, small businesses and bulk mailers.

The research found that while the existing universal service obligation met users’ needs, many said some areas could be improved, including reliability and speed of delivery. Residential customers wanted deliveries six days a week while businesses were unconcerned whether they were made five or six days a week.