Royal Mail and TPG Post agree access deal
Royal Mail has signed an access agreement with TPG Post UK providing the Dutch company with access to Royal Mail’s local sorting and delivery network.
Under the agreement, TPG Post UK will collect mail from its business customers and transport it to one of Royal Mail’s 73 Mail Centres around the UK for final sorting work. Royal Mail will then take the mail to its delivery offices, from where it will be delivered by Royal Mail’s 80,000 postmen and women.
For ordinary-sized letters weighing up to 60g – the weight range covered by basic postage – Royal Mail will be paid by TPG Post UK 13.0p for letters sorted down to the level of Royal Mail’s 1,450 Delivery Offices, and 13.375p for letters only sorted to the level of the 121 UK postcode areas. For A4-sized larger letters weighing up to 60g, Royal Mail will be paid 14p. Other prices go up to £3.65, depending on the weight of the mail.
Royal Mail’s Chief Executive, Adam Crozier, said: “I’m confident this is a good commercial deal for Royal Mail and its people. It will give Royal Mail a new income stream and opens the way for possible growth in the mail market from the development of more choice for customers.
“Crucially, the agreement stipulates that the access mail presented by TPG Post UK to Royal Mail should resemble an average mail bag covering a wide spread of addresses. This condition, therefore, ensures that the access arrangements do not undermine Royal Mail’s unique ability to continue providing a one-price-goes-anywhere service to the UK’s 27 million addresses.”
Nick Wells, CEO of TPG Post UK, said: “TPG Post brings to the UK market a track record as the most efficient postal service in the world and is set to become the major competitor to Royal Mail. TPG Post UK aims to become the number one challenger in the addressed mail distribution market and the industry leader in both quality and customer oriented services. TPG Post UK will be a success because businesses want choice and we will deliver that.”
A special indicator in the top right hand corner of each item will identify the mail handled under the access agreement.
