The Greeting Card Association (GCA) is highlighting that the 75p second-class stamp is under threat following a new Royal Mail submission to Ofcom, which proposes abandoning a proposed ‘inflation lock’ to keep the price pegged to inflation for five years.
On Wednesday (29 November), the GCA will hold a drop-in session for MPs in Parliament asking them to make a #Cardmitment, including backing Ofcom’s announcement that the 2nd class postal rate should stay capped by inflation, and supporting local posties by working to protect communities and the Royal Mail’s obligation to deliver reliably everywhere in the UK.
Amanda Fergusson, CEO of the GCA, said the Royal Mail must stay national, affordable, and reliable: “Under Beeching, we lost much of the railways we loved because no one had the imagination to ask what they could be. We must not let that happen to our Royal Mail service. It’s simply a remarkable British treasure that we can send a card absolutely anywhere in the country for a very reasonable 75p. In the decades ahead, I am certain we would rue the loss of this service that unites our nation and is part of what makes us British.”
The GCA expressed its concerns following a recent meeting with Royal Mail.
While it expressed appreciation for the Royal Mail’s Christmas 2023 plans – the ‘We Are Christmas’ viral advert, the recruitment of 16,000 seasonal workers, five additional temporary sorting centres and an incentive scheme for their operational employees, the GCA confirmed it would campaign against the Royal Mail’s plans to persuade the government that further price increases and regulatory freedoms were appropriate for the country’s beloved second-class stamps, in the New Year.
What’s more as Ofcom looks at the need to ‘evolve’ the Universal Service Obligation (USO), the GCA also confirmed it would robustly counter any move to water down the Royal Mail’s commitment to deliver six days a week, anywhere in the UK, taken on just a decade ago.
In its latest submission to Ofcom, the Royal Mail campaigns against Ofcom’s proposal for an inflation lock that keeps the price of a second-class stamp – currently just 75p – pegged to inflation for five years from 2024.
But the GCA’s members want their voice to be heard – not least because over 40% of the British public now say they only use Royal Mail for sending greeting cards. The GCA says it has heard loud and clear from its 500-plus members that they, and their customers, know a postal service that is national, affordable and reliable are red lines that can’t be crossed. A service that delivers on-time, to all of the UK’s 32m addresses and at a simple flat price that’s good value, is crucial to the future of members and communities.
