The Royal Mail is seeking to raise the price of a first class stamp by 6p to ensure its survival. RM claim that they lose 6p on every stamped letter they deliver, and can no longer subsidise this service with revenue from business users, as they are coming under increasing competition from other mail providers for the lucrative end of the market.
Chief Executive Adam Crozier has said that this is not scaremongering, but questions must surely now be asked about the Universal Service Agreement, which guarantees that letter post is uniformly priced to every address in the UK, an agreement which is valid until 2010. Price rises for this year, which will see a first class stamp increase 2p to 34p, have already been announced.