Royal Mail slammed for 'disgraceful' postal hikes

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.brandrepublic.com/news/10687 ... tal-hikes/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The Royal Mail has been slammed by the UK's biggest magazine publisher IPC Media for its decision to up its postal rates for bulk mail by up to three times the rate of inflation.

Speaking at the annual PPA Conference this week, Sylvia Auton, chief executive of IPC Media, strongly condemned the decision by postal regulator Postcomm to allow the national operator to double the permitted price increases on bulk mail earlier.

The impact of the ensuing postal hikes will start to take hold of IPC’s distribution costs from next week.

Auton said: "My subs postal costs are increasing by 12 and a half percent May 9 thanks to [regulator] Postcomm deciding that Royal Mail did not need to meet those efficiency targets, but instead would impose a tax on us as a business.


"Obviously Royal Mail has a monopoly position, we have no option but to pay. Subscriptions are an increasingly important market… we’re all focusing on following up subs files."

IPC, which publishes mass market women’s titles Look, Now, Chat and Woman, actually benefits from strong newsstand sales, with print subscriptions making-up about 15% of copy sales, so the situation stands to be far more significant for publishers already heavily reliant on subscriptions.

Auton stressed: "I think it’s very serious actually. It comes at a time when we are being pressured across all fronts.

"Often these things have a lot of unintended consequences, and I’m sure this massive increase in postal costs, which is two or three times inflation whichever market you’re looking at, is really quite disgraceful."

Paul Keenan, chief executive of Bauer Media, also condemned the move as "short-termist", and noted "over time publishers distribution options, in both on-and offline routes to market, are only set to expand".

Arnaud de Puyfontaine, the French chief executive of the National Magazine Company in the UK, said when a similar thing happened in France a few years ago, with the national postal operator increasing the postal rate by 15% overnight, it had helped accelerate the need to find new routes to market.

"It’s just another reasons why as an industry, we need to prevent the monopoly situation," he said. "We need to accelerate routes of market options so we are not in the hands of someone that decides, by the voice of God, that we have to incur such an increase."

Postcomm made the decision to allow the rises as the Royal Mail faces continued pressure from falling domestic mail volume sent by individuals in a digital age now dominated by email.

The regulator said the move was necessary to help protect the Universal Service provided by the Royal Mail.

[knackeredneedadayoff]

yes mail volumes falling imao

[pants123]

if the UK's biggest magazine publisher IPC Media is that concerned about it, post it yourself.. end off.

[cstf]

I think this mob have a hard neck slamming it as disgraceful that Royal Mail put prices up and might actually make some profit instead of in the case of most DSA where they charge less than what it costs to deliver. I think most of these magazine publishers just dont want to take any dip in profits but would be happy for royal mail to deliver them at next to no profit and by the way have you seen the price of the average magazine lately , not much change off a fiver , im sure they can pay a little more for postage and maybe give some of there executives a pay freeze or god forbid a pay cut.

[Straight4ward]

Why should RM subsidise their distribution costs?
It would seem that everyone wants us to pick up the tab on their behalf. F*ck 'em! Pay the market rate or bugger off.

[Lounge Lizard]

"this massive increase in postal costs, which is two or three times inflation whichever market you’re looking at, is really quite disgraceful" but it's much less than the 34% increase in the basic 100g 9am Special Delivery fee, up from £11.35 to £15.25 a month ago.

[fishtank]

s**t happens...the price has gone up...deal with it.
Wait until the whining starts after privatisation because a lot of their "subs" are in rural areas.

[DGP1]

Most of the magazines now come through DSA...............most recent being Radio Times, so they are going elsewhere, whine whine whine whine

[Lounge Lizard]

Most of the magazines now come through DSA...............most recent being Radio Times, so they are going elsewhere, whine whine whine whine

- and the recipients of these mailed magazines, too idle to walk a couple hundred yards, are probably moaning that their local newsagents are closing.

[arnold cheshire]

tesco puts the price of food up 33 per cent and thats ok is it?

[PhilthyPhil]

What exactly is bulk mail? DSA and mailsort?

[TrueBlueTerrier]

What exactly is bulk mail? DSA and mailsort?

Bulk Mail - is what it says on the tin - when a company/sender sends out a lot of mail in one go. They get various discounts for doing it as well.

DSA - Down Stream Access - Mail processed by our competitiors and then passed to us to deliver.

Mail Sort - Various bulk mail streams that RM Customers use.



But as a postie its all the same - its mail for us to deliver.

[Haitch P]

Most of the magazines now come through DSA...............most recent being Radio Times, so they are going elsewhere, whine whine whine whine

Most of the Radio Times magazines for my walk are coming through as 1st class (Prestream 1?) bar one which was sent DSA (UK Mail).

[DGP1]

Most of the magazines now come through DSA...............most recent being Radio Times, so they are going elsewhere, whine whine whine whine

Most of the Radio Times magazines for my walk are coming through as 1st class (Prestream 1?) bar one which was sent DSA (UK Mail).

All of them are DSA on my walk and coming in on a Thursday/Friday instead of Tuesday.