Competitor "dismay" at Royal Mail price decrease for MS3

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Competitor "dismay" at Royal Mail price decrease for direct mail

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LONDON - Royal Mail is to reduce the price of Mailsort 3 - the primary tariff used by direct mailers - by three per cent, in a move likely to anger competitors TNT Post, UK Mail and DHL.

The price drop is designed to maintain mail’s competitiveness as a communications channel, a spokesperson for Royal Mail said.

A client mailing 500,000 items a year would have their Royal Mail bill reduced by £3,000, according postal consultants Post-Switch.com.

"Royal Mail operates in a competitive marketplace and we’re fully committed to offering our customers the best value for money," the Royal Mail spokesperson said.

The price decrease comes into effect on 26 October.

TNT and UK Mail were unavailable for comment as this story went to press.

However postal consultants said competitors would be dismayed at Royal Mail’s move as the price they must pay to access Royal Mail's delivery network remains unchanged.

"Royal Mail’s rivals don’t have access to a Mailsort 3 service, which was designed especially for high volume mailers, and this will undermine them," said David Robottom of D&S Consultants.

Post-Switch.com founder Jonathan DeCarteret said his consultancy would support the move "if the wholesale rate that competitors have to pay was being reduced to mirror the retail rate, which is not happening. This is why we view Royal Mail’s price decease as anti-competitive."

The news comes as TNT NV, the parent of TNT Post UK and Europe's second-largest post company, yesterday reported a 60 per cent fall in net profit for the second quarter.

TNT said it saw little evidence of economic recovery as operating profits in mail fell 13 per cent, with express delivery experiencing an 81 per cent decline.

[hubbahubba]

good,i hope it really p****s them off,they got a bargin when the dsa tariff was set anyway,RM actually getting something right at last!(must be a mistake,expect them to revoke it asap!)

[POSTMAN]

Kudos to RM,errrr can i say that

[heapsy]

Mmmm this is interesting . Just wondering if it will damage the RM, revenue wise. Strange how the other companies start bleating when things don't got their way though. What a shame for them.

[pinstripe]

Kudos to RM,errrr can i say that

I think we can let you say it this once, after all it is a red letter day, or is it a blue moon?
Although you will have to wash your mouth out with soap.

[rhino49]

Mmmm this is interesting . Just wondering if it will damage the RM, revenue wise. Strange how the other companies start bleating when things don't got their way though. What a shame for them.

No it won't damage their revenue - they've saved the cut by not giving us an increase, by forcing lapsed duties and by reducing the number of walks and full time jobs. - WE are paying for their experiments and still being treated like s**t.

[junkmale]

But the only way RM can modernise is if a third of it is sold to a company that lost 60% of its profit in the last quarter.

[Fred B]

Mmmm this is interesting . Just wondering if it will damage the RM, revenue wise. Strange how the other companies start bleating when things don't got their way though. What a shame for them.

No it won't damage their revenue - they've saved the cut by not giving us an increase, by forcing lapsed duties and by reducing the number of walks and full time jobs. - WE are paying for their experiments and still being treated like s**t.

Very true! Don't forget the unpaid overtime of idiots starting before time and using their cars as mobile pouch boxes.

[eian687]

no wage rise but ROYAL MAIL can cut prices, cut jobs and cut conditions

[Carnoustie]

Don't forget the unpaid overtime of idiots starting before time and using their cars as mobile pouch boxes.

Yet if RM came out with proposals for new duty patterns that forced duty holders to work for long periods with no break, and required them to do unpaid overtime, they would demand a ballot and would be prepared to strike indefinitely, totally oblivious to the reality that they are already doing both of those things quite willingly already !!! All to get an early finish.