The Royal Mail wants to increase profits by £200 million a year from delivering more junk mail through the nation’s letterboxes.
The move is aimed at reversing the fortunes of the Royal Mail as profits plunged by 72% to just £52 million a year.
The organisation is also grappling with an £8 billion pensions black hole.
In 2009, the Royal Mail made about £50 million from delivering more than a billion junk
letters, mail shots and takeaway restaurant menus.
By 2014, they want this to rise to £250 million a year.
The plan is to extend direct mail services to smaller businesses by reducing the costs.
Most of them are unread and unwanted – industry statistics show seven out of 10 unsolicited
letters go straight in a bin, mostly unread.
Besides local restaurants, the other main sources of junk mail are financial service companies and home improvement firms.
A Royal Mail spokesman has confirmed that making ‘significant inroads’ in to delivering junk mail is just one money-raising avenue under consideration.
650 junk mail items posted to every home in a year.
For householders who do not want junk mail, signing up for the free Mail Preference Service
(MPS Link: http://www.mpsonline.org.uk/mpsr/) should stop the deliveries – but only after at least four months.
MPS runs a database of addresses opting out of direct mail deliveries. Reputable firms will
make sure junk mail does not go to these homes.
The service takes at least four months to take effect as direct mail companies only ‘clean’ their
databases by updating addresses once a quarter.
According to pressure group Stop Junk Mail, 650 pieces of junk mail are posted through the
average British letterbox every year.
Most addressed junk mail is comes from the financial sector. Banks, building societies, insurance companies and other financial companies are responsible 31% of all addressed
junk mail.
Names and addresses for junk mail shots come from council electoral rolls and from firms selling or exchanging customer data.
