News Focus: Postcomm - Royal Mail still top as postal clients blind to open market

Direct Response 01-Dec-05

Royal Mail remains in a dominant position in the postal sector as business mailers have been slow to take note of the opening of the market to competition, Postcomm's Competitive Market Review: 2005 revealed.

The postal regulator's report, released in November, showed that among
business customers - which represent 80 per cent of the mailing market -
only 25 per cent could identify 1 January 2006 as the date the market

opens to full competition.

Postcomm chairman Nigel Stapleton noted that, since the market was
opened to limited competition more than two years ago, rivals to Royal
Mail had won slightly more than 1.5 per cent of the letters market.

"Customers tell us that this is already encouraging Royal Mail to be
more responsive to their needs and offer more choice and innovation in
postal services," said Stapleton.

"But the development of a fully competitive market is still at an early
stage," he added.