Mailroom specialist Totalpost Services Plc has warned that the recent increase in the cost of postage stamps by the Royal Mail could deliver a negative impact to small businesses across the country as costs mount up.

The Managing Director of Totalpost David Hymers MBE believes that the price hike of 14p for both first class and second class stamps will impact many businesses much more than they may be prepared for.

“Businesses of all shapes and sizes will be affected by this increase and need to be well-informed of the cost implications for their overheads,” David Hymers MBE comments.

“Even looking at average business postage rates of twenty items a day the increase would equate to an additional £800 a year, a rise of around 29%. This is a significant amount for a small business to be aware of, especially during a double-dip recession.”

As one of the UK’s largest suppliers of quality compatible remanufactured franker cartridges, Totalpost believes the stamp price increase will see more businesses move to using franked letters. Hymers continues:

“We have seen a significant increase in enquiries about our franking machines, especially from SMEs, which we feel has been due to businesses looking for a viable alternative to using stamps. By using franked letters the differential savings will help many firms grow their business more efficiently and cost-effectively.

“As franking offers discounted postal services the cost savings compared to stamps can equal around 28-30%. Even for smaller businesses that only send around fifteen items a day this means that any expenditure from purchasing the new machinery is negated within a matter of months.”

With offices in Warrington, Swindon and Alston and a dedicated sales and engineering team covering the whole of the UK, Totalpost is also a fully Royal Mail approved supplier and maintainer of frankers.

Hymers concludes: “As a UK manufacturer of franker cartridges and ink and ribbon franker consumables we are able to ensure our costs per frank are as low as possible giving the best cost per impression as we understand how important these savings are to our customers.

“As more and more businesses become aware of the impact the stamp price increase could have on their overheads, we believe that we are only going to see even more SMEs turn to franking and are expecting one of our busiest years yet.”

Totalpost also sells its products and services in more than 24 countries around the world, including the US, France, Germany and the UAE. The company has a major percent share of the European franker compatible and remanufactured ink cartridge market.

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