Royal Mail to produce “next day stamps” to celebrate Olympic medals

Royal Mail is set to produce special stamps this summer to go on sale the day after a British Olympian wins a gold medal at the London Olympics. A team of more than 100 staff will be working against the clock to ensure customers can buy the stamps celebrating each British event win within 24 hours of the medal being awarded.

The company said its eight-strong stamp design team would have as little as an hour to review images taken by the 100-plus squad of official Olympics photographers, decide on the most fitting image, then prepare it within the template design.

Where possible, Royal Mail said the stamps will feature action from the gold medal winning final. Otherwise, images will be taken from previous rounds.

Once the design is complete, it will be sent to one of Royal Mail’s six designated printing facilities across the UK, with millions of Gold Medal stamps then distributed to more than 500 post office branches by lunchtime the next day.

A fleet of nearly 100 Royal Mail vehicles are ready to deliver the stamps to post offices, the company said. Stamps will sell in books of six for GBP 3.60, or individually for 60p. A further 4,700 post offices will receive the Gold Medal stamps within a week.

Royal Mail said the stamps and First day covers will also be available to buy the next day from its website.

Royal Mail first issued Olympic Gams stamps in 1948, and has already showcased all the sports disciplines that will be seen when the Games begin in four days’ time within three sets of stamps.

At the Beijing Olympics in 2008, British sportsmen and women took home 19 gold medals.

The company said: “Royal Mail’s Gold Medal stamps will be the first time any host country has used action shots for Gold Medal stamps and issued them immediately, during the Games.”