Royal Mail to hike worth of stamps for the third time in a yr | EUROtoday

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Royal Mail is about to extend stamps from April 2 – the third worth hike in a yr.

First-class stamps are set to extend by 10p for normal dimension letters, from £1.25 to £1.34. For massive letters, the rise on first-class stamps might be 15p, from £1.95 to £2.10.

The rise on normal dimension second-class stamps is barely much less at 10p, going from 75p to 85p. There might be no enhance on second-class stamps for giant letters, which stay at £1.55.

The transfer comes after comparable worth hikes over the previous 12 months. In April 2023, Royal Mail elevated the worth of normal first-class stamps by 16 per cent, and a further 14 per cent the next October.

This signifies that they’ve risen 42 per cent over the previous yr – a 40p enhance from 95p to £1.35.

Royal Mail bosses have justified the transfer citing points round industrial motion, elevated prices and the government-legislated ‘universal service obligation’ it faces to ship letters six days every week.

In November, Royal Mail reported an working lack of £319m for the primary half of 2023-24.

Responding to criticism across the worth rises, Nick Landon, chief business officer at Royal Mail, mentioned: “We always consider price changes very carefully but we face a situation where letter volumes have reduced dramatically over recent years while costs have increased.

“It is no longer sustainable to maintain a network built for 20 billion letters when we are now only delivering seven billion.

“As a result of letter volume decline, our posties now have to walk more than three times as far to deliver the same number of letters as before, increasing the delivery costs per letter.”

Ofcom, which regulates the Royal Mail, has really helpful reforms to its service to chop prices, together with a potential discount of supply days from six to 5 – and even as few as three.

UK cash guru Martin Lewis has really helpful folks fill up on stamps forward of the worth hike, particularly if they’re frequently use the postal service.

“For years, every time stamps go up in price I’ve suggested people stock up and bulk-buy in advance,” he mentioned.

“Provided the stamp doesn’t have a price on it and instead just says the postage class, it’s still valid after the hike”.