Postcomm consults on a licence for UK Mail Ltd

Postcomm has begun consultation on the proposed issue of a short term licence to UK Mail Ltd, a subsidiary of Business Post Group plc, to provide mail services to business customers. The company is seeking a licence to enable it to collect mail from business customers within certain designated postcode areas, sort and consolidate that mail and then transmit it to the relevant Consignia delivery office for delivery by Consignia.
If a licence is granted, the service would begin next April. UK Mail plans to use 12 collection points covering postcode areas in and around Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London, Manchester and Thames Valley. The Business Post sites covered by the proposed licence serve around 5000 existing customers.
Granting a licence on the terms proposed seems likely to have no appreciable effect on the provision of a universal postal service in the UK. It is anticipated that a significant share of the revenue created by the service will revert to Consignia under access arrangements to be agreed.
The proposed licence would last for one year and is intended to allow UK Mail’s customers to benefit from more reliable postal services and for Postcomm to assess their effects while it develops its longer term licensing policy. The consultation document and text of the proposed licence is in the Licensing section of Postcomm’s website.