Tag: UK

The Post Office will revive saving stamps in the latest sign of its determination to cut losses by revamping its product range and expanding in the financial services market.

The stamps can be used to pay bills and buy Post Office services and are aimed at low income customers including students, single parents and pensioners.

Saving stamps were widely used as a way of saving and budgeting in the past, but were withdrawn in 1976 as customers embraced modern retail banking. The Post Office said that many customers remembered the stamps fondly and had recently been calling for their return.

The Royal Mail Group have clashed with consumer watchdogs after claiming that it needed to increase the cost of posting letters in order to offset a GBP247m loss on its domestic mail operations.

The company said that losses on mail posted through pillar boxes such as personal letters, greetings cards and stamped mail sent out by small businesses amounted to 5p on every first class letter and an even bigger 9p on second class letters.

Royal Mail loses an average of 5p for every First Class stamped letter posted by members of the public and small businesses, the company said.
The average loss for Second Class stamped letters posted in the UK’s 120,000 pillar boxes is even higher – 9p a letter.
The GBP247 million losses incurred on personal letters, greeting cards and the stamped mail posted by small businesses last financial year were covered only by the profits generated by bulk business mail, said Royal Mail’s Chief Executive, Adam Crozier.