First class stamp cost rises to 95p with second class going to 68p

Cost of a first class stamp increases by 10p to 95p TODAY and a second class stamp is up by 2p to 68p as Royal Mail seeks to cover higher delivery costs despite its annual profits quadrupling to £762m

• Price of first class stamp has risen to 95p and a second class stamp rose to 68p 
• Royal Mail blamed long-term decline in letters being sent and rising inflation
• Since 2004/5, 60% fewer letters have been sent from 20 billion a year to 7 billion
• Price increase comes as cost of living will cost average UK family around £2,000

The cost of a first class stamp increases10p to 95p from today with second class stamps rising by 2p to 68p – as Royal Mail seeks to cover higher delivery costs despite it’s annual profits quadrupling to £762million.

The former state-owned service blamed the long-term decline in letter usage, coupled with rising inflation, for the new prices coming into effect on April 4. 

Letter volumes have fallen by more than 60 per cent since their peak in 2004/5 and by around 20 per cent since the start of the pandemic.

It comes as Royal Mail saw their profits quadruple to £762million last year as the Covid pandemic sparked a huge surge in online shopping.

Bosses revealed pre-tax profits for the year to March 28 hit £726million – up from £180million a year earlier – with revenues up 16.6 per cent to £12.6billion. 

Many Brits have criticised the Royal Mail for adding to the eye-watering cost of living, which has already seen gas and electricity bills of around 22million homes increase by 54 per cent after the new price cap came into force just days ago.

The cost of a first class stamp has increased from 10p to 95p today, as Royal Mail says the number of letters being sent has fallen by 20 percent since the start of the pandemic. Second class stamps have risen by 2p to 68p are blamed on the long-term decline in letter usage, coupled with rising inflation

Nick Landon, chief commercial officer at Royal Mail said: ‘We understand that many companies and households are finding it hard in the current economic environment, and we will always keep our prices as affordable as possible’

Nick Landon, chief commercial officer at Royal Mail said: ‘We understand that many companies and households are finding it hard in the current economic environment, and we will always keep our prices as affordable as possible.

‘Whilst the number of letters our postmen and women deliver has declined from around 20 billion a year to around seven billion since 2004/5, the number of addresses they have to deliver to has grown by around 3.5 million in the same period.

‘We need to carefully balance our pricing against declining letter volumes and increasing costs of delivering to a growing number of addresses six days a week.

‘As customer needs change and we see a greater shift from letters to parcels, it is vital that the universal service adapts to stay relevant and sustainable.

‘These price changes are necessary to ensure we can continue to maintain and invest in the one-price-goes-anywhere universal service for future generations.’

Many Brits have since taken to Twitter to complain about the price surge despite the companies profits quadrupling.

Labour MP For Hemsworth, Jon Trickett, said: ‘Privatised Royal Mail quadrupled their profits to £726 million in the last year. Today they increase the price of a first class stamp by 10p. It’s time to take Royal Mail back into public ownership.’

Another user added: ’95p for a first class stamp! Today will be my last day using the Royal Mail. I won’t be alone.’

This news comes as Royal Mail revealed plans to axe around 700 management jobs to try to cut costs earlier this year in January.

The company said they make the sweeping redundancies as part of a restructuring to try to save £40million a year.

But the reshuffle is expected to cost around £70million, meaning the firm’s profit will plummet from £500million to £430million.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham criticised the Royal Mail for behaving like a ‘short-term greedy speculator’. 

She said: ‘The Royal Mail boardroom is again raising prices while helping itself to massive profits. It is behaving like a short-term greedy speculator rather than the responsible owner of a key UK public service.

‘With plans to slash 900 postal manager jobs and threats issued to Unite that collective bargaining agreements for our members will be ignored, Royal Mail’s owners are ruining this essential service. Ofgem has to get a grip because the universal service obligation is at serious risk.

‘Unite’s postal managers are the heart of this service and our union will back them all the way in this fight to protect jobs and services.’  

Source: Read Full Article