Royal Mail awarded 60m Scottish public sector postal contract

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The new framework, awarded following a competitive tender by Scottish Procurement, means Royal Mail will be the suppler of Scottish Government, local authority and public body postal services for three years with a further one-year extension option

Royal Mail has secured a new £60 million framework deal to provide all postal services to Scotland's public sector bodies.

The framework, awarded following a competitive tender by Scottish Procurement, means Royal Mail will be the suppler of Scottish Government, local authority and public body postal services.

Scottish Procurement, said the contract value over the three-year framework and one-year option to extend is valued at £60 million and represents a saving of around 6.5 per cent over the four years.

The new framework is split into two lots covering physical and hybrid mail and scheduled and regular bulk mail.

Associated print work will be carried out by Royal Mail’s partner CFH Docmail Ltd, based in Livingston.

Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Constitution, Derek Mackay, said: “Congratulations to Royal Mail on its appointment to the Scottish Ministers Postal Services Framework for at least the next three years.

“This will deliver savings across the public sector and ensure national coverage for organisations across Scotland.”

Royal Mail secured the Scottish Government's first-class mail contract in 2009, but lost the second-class service contract to TNT Post, part of Dutch postal company Post NL.

TNT Post extended the deal in 2013 and the contract was widened to include Scottish Government, housing associations, charities, universities and colleges, NHS Scotland and all local councils, most of which had been using the existing second-class postal service since 2009.

Royal Mail continued to handle production and delivery of larger, 'planned mailings' and offsite print work.

A new hybrid mail service was introduced in 2012, allowing public sector organisations to produce mail on desktops before sending the information to TNT Post's production site in Coatbridge to be printed and passed to Royal Mail, who managed last mile delivery.

Commenting on the new framework win, Royal Mail's operations director for the north, Rob Jenson, said: “As the UK’s Universal Service Provider and one of the largest employers in Scotland, Royal Mail is proud to serve the Scottish Government and the whole of Scotland.

“Working together with Scottish Procurement, we have secured a great deal for all contracting bodies across the country.

“The awarding of this contract is testament to the hard work and dedication of our 11,000 postmen and women across Scotland.

“They provide a high quality service to 2.5 million addresses, six days a week.”