UK Postal Competition Countdown: 100 days to go

There are just 100 days to go to the New Year and a fully free and open postal market.

Already competition for bulk mail has brought about improvements in prices, quality and range of services. Postcomm, the regulator, and Postwatch, the consumer watchdog, expect full competition to continue this momentum, further improving postal services, keeping prices in check and stimulating much-needed innovation.

Nigel Stapleton, chairman of Postcomm said: “Opening the mail market to competition will create a more vibrant postal market in the UK. It will introduce choice to a market that has been a monopoly for 350 years.

“With 100 days to go, we believe that everyone will win. Customers will win through greater choice, new operators can win by innovating and developing new services, and Royal Mail can continue to grow and thrive. We have already seen marked improvements in Royal Mail’s performance as we move towards full market opening. Businesses that post more than 500 items a day should visit the Postcomm website www.psc.gov.uk for an up-to-date list of postal operators.”

Peter Carr, chairman of Postwatch, added: “Customers know from looking at their own post that several household names have already moved some of their mailings to the new operators. Our message today is that you don’t have to be a household name with millions of customers to have choice. There are thousands of small and medium-sized businesses that could choose to use another operator and be offered a better service, better prices or both.

“Postwatch and Postcomm are telling large mailers to visit the Postcomm website, get the list of competitors and make the calls. We want them to have the information that allows them to make informed choice.

“January 1, 2006 will be an historic date. The day the UK postal market is fully opened to competition. The postal revolution will not begin with a bang but it will from the start of next year gather unstoppable momentum.”

NOTES TO EDITORS

1. Examples of well-known businesses that have moved mailings to the new licensed operators include: Vodafone, Powergen, Royal Bank of Scotland and the Inland Revenue who use UK Mail. Waitrose, Barclay’s, Alliance & Leicester, BSkyB and Lloyd’s TSB who use TNT Mail and Tesco, which uses DHL Global Mail

2 Bulk Mailers can be defined as those businesses that mail more than 4000 items at one time. Since 1 January 2003 bulk mail customers have been able to choose alternative postal operators.

3. For the last 350 years it has been a criminal offence for anyone other than Royal Mail to offer postal services to the general public. On 1 January 2006 the statutory monopoly will finally come to an end, and companies licensed by Postcomm, the postal regulator, will be free to provide competitive services.

4. For more information about Postwatch visit www.postwatch.co.uk

5. For more information about Postcomm or an up to date list of licensed postal operators visit www.psc.gov.uk

More information

Call Daryl Barrett in the Postwatch press office on 020 7259 1239 or 07900 263 020

Call Chris Webb in the Postcomm press office on 020 7593 2114 or mobile 07779 635881.