Royal Mail: New coalition group calls on Government to keep service ‘national, reliable and affordable’

Members of the group include the UK’s Greeting Card Association (GCA), British Independent Retailers Association (BIRA), the Booksellers Association, the National Federation of SubPostmasters, Voice of the Postmaster and Bookshop.org.

GCA chief executive officer Amanda Fergusson said: “Consumers and small businesses are united by a desire to see a postal service that gets back to its best.

“The businesses and consumers our respective organisations represent are now looking to the new administration to recognise the importance of Royal Mail, Post Offices and the associated services communities depend on.

“Whoever owns it, we need lock-tight, long-term undertakings from Royal Mail on affordability and reliability. Above all communities need a postal service that performs, serving the needs of small businesses and consumers.”

The group has called for Royal Mail to “reverse the slide in performance and re-commit to meeting existing performance targets before any changes are agreed”.

It has also called for parcel deliveries not to be prioritised over letter deliveries, and for first and second class mail prices to be regulated to avoid “further above-inflation rises”.

A spokesperson from the Department for Business and Trade said: “A reliable and affordable universal postal service that works for customers, workers and communities is crucial to the UK businesses that help drive growth across the country.

“Ofcom has sought views on what a future universal service should look like to reflect the way people use postal services now, and we will consider any recommendations it puts forward.”

The move comes alongside the announcement of a Government probe into a bid from Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský to buy the Royal Mail’s parent company, International Distribution Services (IDS).

IDS agreed to a £3.57bn takeover by Křetínský’s EP Group in May of this year.

Křetínský’s bid will now be looked into by the Cabinet Office and the Department for Business and Trade under the National Security and Investment act.

Andrew Goodacre, CEO of BIRA, said: “A postal service based on deliveries six days per week and run efficiently is important to the smaller independent retailers.

“The postal service is an essential partner for these businesses that are changing their business model to meet consumer demand by developing the on-line business, not to mention the many thousands of businesses that sell cards.

“We would expect any change of ownership of Royal Mail to be very closely scrutinised.”

In an interview with the BBC, Křetínský previously vowed to maintain the Royal Mail’s requirement to deliver letters six days a week throughout the UK.