Royal Mail figures suggest increase in direct mail

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://directmarketing.thomsonlocal.com ... ryId=83935" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Recently released figures from Royal Mail have suggested more companies are using direct mail as part of their marketing strategies.

In what were otherwise poor figures for the postal operator, it was revealed in a first-half trading update that the number of bulk mail items delivered, which includes direct mail, is set to reach more than seven billion next year, approaching half the total of all the post being delivered in Britain, Marketing Week reports.

However, on the whole, profits fell to £52 million in the six months to the end of September as mail volumes continued to decline and competition from rival operators and electronic media increased.

The group has urged government to lift regulations on the business that it claims is preventing it competing with its rivals.

Moya Greene, Royal Mail chief executive, highlighted that both its parcel delivery businesses had performed well.

"Both these businesses are unregulated, showing what we can achieve when we are allowed to compete fairly - which is why we are saying that the heavy regulation suffocating Royal Mail in the competitive market in which it operates should be lifted as soon as possible," she said.