Royal Mail raises stamp prices by 1p

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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Royal Mail is to raise the price of stamps just months after the government completed the privatisation of the service.

First class stamps will go up by 1p to 64p, while a second class stamp will rise by the same amount to 55p from March 29.

The company said it had “carefully considered” the impact of price rises on customers and its own business, opting to apply the “smallest possible increase”. The price of large letter stamps will also rise by 1p.

“We believe these changes are necessary to help ensure the sustainability of the Universal Postal Service,” the company said, adding that stamp prices in the UK are among the best value in Europe.

The price of a first class stamp in the UK remains well below the European average of 78p, and below the 64p average for second class letters, said Royal Mail.

Stamps have more than doubled in price over the past 20 years, with rises applied both during Royal Mail’s time as a state-owned company and since its privatisation.

A first class stamp cost 26p in 1995, adjusted for retail price index inflation.

The government sold off its remaining 13% stake in the Royal Mail for £591m in October, completing a controversial privatisation process that began in 2014.

The postal service’s stock market float drew criticism over claims that the former business secretary Vince Cable sold it off too cheaply.

[Deadly]

That's our pay rise sorted then

[tiredm]

I would imagine most things have doubled in price over 20 years.

[IloveMYredTROLLEY!]

I wish rent, house prices and utility bills had increased as slowly as stamps over the last 20 years.