“Delivered by Royal Mail” mark to be applied to post

A ‘Delivered by Royal Mail’ mark is to be printed on the vast majority of the 15 billion letters and parcels carried by Royal Mail annually Royal Mail yesterday announced it would introduce a new mark to the vast majority of 15 billion letters and parcels carried by the business annually with the words “Delivered by” together with the Royal Mail cruciform.

The UK was one of the first countries in the EU to open the postal market to full competition in 2006, since when competition has become well established. It is therefore important that customers and receiving households and businesses know the difference between mail delivered by Royal Mail and its competitors.

Competition in postal delivery raises the prospect of customer confusion if they don’t know which company to contact over issues such as misdelivered mail. Other operators have different standards of service to Royal Mail which customers need to be aware of.

A poll of over 1,000 people, conducted by You Gov*, shows that the vast majority of consumers – 77 per cent – would welcome clarity on which company delivered which item of mail to avoid confusion. In addition, when asked, 79 per cent of postmen and women said they would welcome ‘Delivered by Royal Mail’ appearing on envelopes. The change, which will provide visible recognition of the work of Royal Mail’s 151,000 employees, is also backed by the Communication Workers Union.

Implementation of the “Delivered by Royal Mail” mark follows eight months of discussions with customers and trade bodies. A consultation of wholesale ‘Downstream Access’ customers found the overwhelming majority supported Royal Mail’s proposals or expressed no particular preference. The consultation findings can be found at www.royalmailwholesale.com

The new mark will be applied through a change in the design of the Printed Postage Impression (PPI) – or postage-paid mark – printed on the envelope by mail users. It is designed to fit within the existing PPI area specified on the top right hand corner of the envelope avoiding the franking zone.  (See Notes to Editors for design details.) While the changes to the PPI will be effective from 23 June 2012, there is a six month period for migration up until 2nd January 2013 to enable old stocks of stationery which do not have the “Delivered by Royal Mail” mark printed on them to be used up and the new PPI design to be adopted. A bilingual version of the mark will be introduced for letters posted in Wales.

From the end of June, Royal Mail will also print “Delivered by Royal Mail” on stamped mail and from 2 January 2013 on franked mail as part of the cancellation mark. When fully implemented in January 2013, it is expected that more than 80 per cent of all items Royal Mail delivers will carry the mark; around 12 billion annually. That includes letters delivered to homes and businesses on behalf of wholesale ‘Downstream Access’ customers. Items that are sorted by hand will not carry the mark.

Moya Greene, Chief Executive of Royal Mail said: ““Delivering to 29 million addresses six days a week is a major task.  The new mark ensures that postmen and women get recognition for the vital task they complete every working day.”

“We are proud of the distinctive service we offer and we want customers to be aware of the difference. It is important we avoid customer confusion in the UK’s very competitive postal market, where many items are handled by providers other than Royal Mail.”

Guy Buswell, Chief Executive of UK Mail, said: “We accept the decision RM has reached and we will work with our posting customers to assist them as appropriate in implementing the change.”

Judith Donovan CBE, Chair of the Strategic Mailing Partnership (SMP), a leading industry body, said: “I am delighted to see the great improvement to the original concept. The Royal Mail cruciform is one of the great icons of our time and it is excellent to see it now in the right place and to the right production quality, which can only help the mail medium. I should also say that on behalf of the SMP we were extremely pleased to be consulted so early on and to have our views taken on board so significantly.”