For the first time, the issue of Royal Mail's threatened move to size-based pricing has hit the headlines in the national press and prime time radio.
Lifting the lid on this momentous proposed changes was The Times, who led with the story on the front page of its business section on December 15, with the headline 'Industry angry at Royal Mail plan to charge by letter size'. This sparked a whole flurry of interest from other media. The Greeting Card Association (GCA) was well placed to respond to any enquiries with Special Envoy William McCracken on hand for interviews. Putting the greeting card industry's point of view across, William was interviewed on BBC's Radio 5 Live and London's leading news station, LBC.
In a vicious attack on Royal Mail's proposals, presenter Henry Kelly made it a focus of his 'drive time' programme on LBC, grilling Royal Mail's Lorna Clarkson over details of the proposed changes.
All the media coverage honed in on greeting cards, using it as an example of how costs will rise. Under the changes, the Daily Mail highlighted that anyone sending a large birthday cards (over 240mm x 165mm) will be asked to pay first class postage of 46p against 28p now, an increase of 64%.
Royal Mail has been rumbling about these changes for a number of years in an effort to implement a system that better reflects its costs. Any mail which has to be hand-sorted (as larger cards have to be) are much more expensive for Royal Mail to process than those that can be sorted automatically.
Royal Mail has put the plan to Postcomm, the industry regulator, which must give approval before the change can be implemented. This is not certain, as Postcomm is understood to be unhappy with some of the data Royal has submitted as part of its proposal. A consultation is likely sometime in the new year.
Royal Mail is quoting April 2005 as the planned timing for the introduction of the new system. However, if the media reaction is anything to go by, it will have a battle on its hands.
McCracken's Cracking Points
GCA special envoy made no bones about the potential damage such a change could mean for the industry and the general public
- "Unless you are walking around with a ruler in your pocket, this will be confusing for the ordinary shopper." - LBC
- "For larger cards, this would mean a 64% increase in 1st class postage and as much as 90% for second class." - LBC
- "We've seen the consequences of Size-Based Pricing in USA, Canada, Germany and Australia etc" - Radio 5 Live
- "We don't want to follow the path of the Americans who now come to our stationery shows for new ideas." - Radio 5 Live
- "The greeting card industry is worth £1.2 billion in sales and employs about 100,000 people if you include retail. This scheme would have a big impact on that." - The Times
Media Round-Up
"The biggest shake-up in sending post since the creation of the Penny Black stamp in 1840" - was how The Times' industrial editor, Christine Buckley, described the proposed change.
'Shake-up at Royal Mail could see post costs rise by 300pc' - headline in the Daily Mail, December 16.
Henry Kelly told Lorna Clarkson: "My reaction is mild compared to the rows that are going to come. People are going to go demented!"
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