PPA and Royal Mail reach deal on size-based pricing

by Daniel Farey-Jones,, Brand Republic 23-Nov-04, 07:00

LONDON – Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier has announced an agreement between Royal Mail and the PPA on size-based pricing.

Speaking at the PPA's CEO Conference, Crozier said that the two organisations had reached an agreement on the last outstanding issue that had divided the pair.

This concerned the tolerance threshold of the surface of a mailing piece of 10mm thickness or above, where if the threshold was exceeded the item would be classed as a packet rather than a large letter, resulting in a substantial increase in costs. The PPA has succeeded in convincing the Royal Mail to increase this threshold from 4mm to 5mm.

However, the agreement saw the PPA drop a second proposal for the introduction of an intermediary price line for any item that is over 10mm thick, but the surface of which varies in depth between 5mm and 10mm. A PPA spokesperson said that the association wished to bring the uncertainty over size-based pricing to an end because it was holding publishers back from determining budgets.

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