Royal Mail to increase price of stamps
28/02/2014
Royal Mail have as announced they will be increasing the price of both first and second-class stamps as of March the 31st.
The price of a first-class stamp is set to increase by 2p to 62p, while a second-class stamp will increase by 3p to 53p. Additionally, large letter stamps up to 100g will also be increasing, as the first-class variation will rise by 3p to 93p, whilst second-class large letter stamps are set to increase by 4p to 73p.
However, Royal Mail defended the price increases, claiming that their prices were “amongst the best in Europe,” and that they could have increased second class stamps by as much as 7p under the current regulatory framework.
John Allan of the Federation of Small Businesses spoke negatively about the price increase, claiming it was “Another unwelcome cost in doing business,” and that "businesses will have to make a choice whether to absorb this new cost or pass it on to their customers."
However, not everybody reacted as negatively, as Sharon Little, chief executive of the Greeting Card Association pointed to the price increases being “minimal” in comparison to the those implemented by the Royal Mail two years earlier.
The Royal Mail increased the price of a first class stamp from 46p to 60p in 2014, the largest annual increase in terms of percentages since 1975.
Sharon Little claimed that even though the UK sends more greetings cards than any other nation, the average person would only be paying an extra 64p per year. It’s for this reason that she did not feel the price rise would have much of an impact on the Greeting Card Associations’ members.
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