The Royal Mail has issued a three-week warning to customers as the price of first-class stamps is set to pass £1 for the first time.
The delivery giant has revealed the cost of first-class stamps will rise by more than 10 per cent next month, from 95p to £1.10.
The cost of second-class stamps is also set to rise, with a 7p increase taking the price to 75p.
Royal Mail said the increases are needed to ensure that the universal service, which means any letter delivery costs the same irrespective of the distance, “remains sustainable”.
The group said it made the decision after witnessing a 25% decline in letter numbers since the pandemic, as well as higher cost inflation.
Royal Mail’s financial woes saw the company reveal plans last year for up to 6,000 redundancies, as it said it expected to fall to an annual loss of up to £450 million.
Royal Mail said it remains committed to the universal service but said that costs are increasing as “customer behaviours change”.
The business has however asked the Government to reduce its obligation to deliver letters to Britons six-days-a-week to five-days-a-week.
Nick Landon, chief commercial officer at Royal Mail said: “We appreciate that many businesses and households are facing a challenging economic environment and we are committed to keeping our prices affordable.
“Letters have declined by 25% compared to pre-pandemic.
“We have to carefully balance our pricing against a continued decline in letter volumes and the increasing costs of delivering letters six days a week to an ever-growing number of addresses across the country.
“We need to make these price changes to ensure we can continue to maintain and invest in the one-price-goes-anywhere universal service for years to come.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel