Royal mail is to increase the price of a First Class stamp by 6p to 76p and a Second Class stamp to 65p
- First Class stamp will jump 6p to 76p and Second Class will go up to 65p
- Company said price increases are ‘necessary’ to ensure sustainability of service
- Royal Mail said it is ‘operating in a challenging business environment’
The Royal Mail has said it will increase the price of first class and second class stamps by up to six pence.
The postal firm said the price of a first class stamp will jump 6p to 76p and the price of a second class stamp will rise 4p to 65p from March 23.
The company said the price increases are ‘necessary’ to ensure the sustainability of its universal service.
The price of a first class stamp will be increased by 6p to 76p and the price of a second class stamp will rise 4p to 65p, the Royal Mail said.
Stamp prices in the UK rate among the best value in Europe, the company added.
Royal Mail said it is ‘operating in a challenging business environment’ and is likely to be loss-making in the current financial year.
Stephen Agar, managing director of letters at Royal Mail said: ‘We are operating in a tough market at present, under the threat of making a loss by 2021.
‘These price increases will help us maintain the quality of service that is expected by our customers, while supporting the universal service.’
Royal Mail said it is ‘operating in a challenging business environment’ and is likely to be loss-making in the current financial year
Last March, the price of a 1st Class stamp increased by 3p to 70p and a 2nd Class stamp by 3p to 61p.
Royal Mail said it had reviewed the changes ‘very carefully’ while seeking to minimise any impact on customers.
It said researched had found the European average for 1st Class letters weighing up to 100g is 99p, while the same figure for 2nd Class letters of the same weight is 77p.
From the Penny Black to today’s First Class: The history of stamps in the UK
The launch of the Penny Black stamp in 1840 transformed how we send and receive post.
Before this one-penny stamp, the world’s first, postal services were expensive.
Charges were based on how many sheets of paper you used. So people ‘cross-wrote’, writing in all directions to fill every space on a sheet.
Rowland Hill’s solution revolutionised the postage world. By making the sender pay for the postage (at a uniform penny rate) everyone would pay the same amount.
Hill’s ideas were accepted, and the world’s first stamp, the Penny Black, was released on 6 May 1840. More than 68 million of them were produced in the first year.
Pictured is the world’s first stamp – the Penny Black – which cost just one penny
The year before the Penny Black came out, 76 million paid-for letters were sent. By 1850 this had more than quadrupled to 350 million. Adhesive postal stamps were then adopted by countries around the world.
Anthony Trollope then invented the pillar box in 1853. But the early ones were green so they would blend into their surroundings.
The Penny Black may have been a world-changer but once it was introduced the approach to British stamp design changed little for over 100 years.
Stamps invariably featured the reigning monarch. Only rarely were other subjects covered, and they were limited to great national occasions.
The first ‘modern’ Special Stamp not to feature a royal personage was issued in July 1965 – in tribute to Winston Churchill, who had died earlier that year.
Stamps are the ultimate picture story of our nation. In minute artistic detail 50 years of British stamps have mapped over 2,000 years of British history – from Roman occupation to the internet age.
Source: The Royal Mail