UK online stamps threaten postmasters

Postmasters, under growing pressure to make ends meet, have been dealt another blow with the news that stamps will be available online.

The SmartStamp, unveiled by Royal Mail last week, means that going to the post office for stamps could become a thing of the past.

People who subscribe to the new service – costing GBP4.99 a month or GBP49.99 a year – will receive a CD-rom allowing them to print personalised stamps bearing their own logo on to labels or directly on to envelopes.

The top right corner of an envelope will no longer be required to feature the monarch’s head.

The new technology will be disastrous for thousands of subpostmasters, according to Gary Coyle, who set up the Postmasternet service to help subpostmasters by boosting retail opportunities.

‘Post offices rely on small businesses and home workers who come in to buy 200 or 300 stamps at a time,’ says Coyle, who has his own sub-post office in Sutton Valence, Kent.

‘That bulk business will be lost because it will be more convenient for these busy people to buy online at a time convenient to them.’ Coyle, 43, estimates that revenue from stamp sales makes up about 20 per cent of his annual salary.

Many of his customers are selfemployed or small business owners who buy large quantities of stamps.

The SmartStamp works in a similar way to a prepaid phone package. Customers pay a monthly subscription fee and buy their stamps in advance. They can top it up once they have used up their allowance.

When a stamp is printed, it will carry a digital code. Royal Mail will scan this to check that the stamp is legitimate. SmartStamp will work on mail sent within Britain and overseas.

Royal Mail aims to target businesses, though the service will be available to anyone.

Spokeswoman Christine Gregory says: ‘Our small business customers have been telling us that this is what they want. We are a commercial organisation and we would be foolish not to respond to this demand when the technology is in place to do it.

‘There are already thousands of outlets where consumers can buy stamps, not just in post offices. So the online channel should not pose any significant threat to post offices. In addition, there is a charge for the service, so it is only going to appeal to businesses in the main.’ Marilyn Stoddart, assistant general secretary at the Federation of Sub-postmasters, says it is bad news for sub-postmasters, coming on top of the move to direct payment of benefits and a programme of branch closures.

But she is confident that subpostmasters will cope. She says: ‘This is an inevitable cost-cutting move by Royal Mail.

‘But our members are adapting to take advantage of new channels of revenue.

I am confident online stamps will not be a significant blow.’ Coyle, however, does not agree, and believes he echoes the opinion of thousands of postmasters.

‘This is not a question of losing the customers who come in to post one parcel or buy a book of stamps,’ he says.

‘We are talking about a significant loss of revenue from business customers.’ ..Further details about Smart-Stamp can be found online at www.royalmail.com.