BUSINESS MAIL 1 st CLASS AND BUSINESS MAIL SUMMARY OF INFORMATION

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1 MAIL 1 st AND MAIL SUMMARY OF INFORMATION TABLE OF CONTENTS Definition of Business Mail 1 st Class and Business Mail Entry requirements Business Mail 1 st Class and Business Mail options Formats Delivery speeds Payment options Payment indicia Business Mail 1 st Class and Business Mail options in detail Machine-readable options Sorted options Availability of Business Mail with other Royal Mail offers General information Frequently asked questions DEFINITION OF MAIL Business Mail 1 st Class and Business Mail will typically contain general correspondence and items of a personalised nature for transactional, contractual or relationship purposes. Generally they are for mailings that do not qualify for Advertising Mail, Sustainable Advertising Mail or Publishing Mail. Business Mail 1 st Class is for urgent general correspondence including bills / statements that require a next working day delivery. Business Mail is for general correspondence including bills / statements. ENTRY REQUIREMENTS entry requirements as per option chosen, specified below MAIL 1 st AND MAIL OPTIONS There are a range of options applicable to both Business Mail 1 st Class and Business Mail for you to choose from, enabling you to select what is most appropriate for your needs: If you do not want to make your mail machine-readable or do any sorting, simply hand your mail over to us and we will do the rest. Machine-readable options: earn savings for preparing your mail so that addresses can be read by Royal Mail s sorting machines, no sorting is required Machine-readable: 90% minimum postcode and address accuracy - Addresses printed with an OCR font (90% postcode and address accuracy) - Barcode (also requires 90% minimum accurate Delivery Point Suffix (DPS) level) Machine-readable Plus: 95% minimum postcode and address accuracy - Addresses printed with an OCR font (95% postcode and address accuracy) - Barcode (also requires 95% minimum accurate DPS level) Machine-readable Advanced: item-based, priced dependent upon volume posted Business Mail Summary October

2 Sorted options: earn savings for sorting your mail and ensuring your addresses are accurate Low Sort (sorted up to 88 ways), printed with an OCR font Low Sort (sorted up to 88 ways), printed with a barcode High Sort (sorted up to 1,525 ways) Multistage option: The opportunity is available to earn a rebate and to generate a high response by adding a teaser or a reminder to your mailing when Business Mail 1 st Class or Business Mail are used as the main stage (only) of a mailing with advertising content. FORMATS Letter: up to 240mm x 165mm x 5mm and a maximum weight of 100g Large Letter: up to 353mm x 250mm x 25mm and a maximum weight of 750g Large Letter in Machine-readable, Machine-readable Plus and Low Sort options: up to 345mm x 245mm x 25mm and a maximum weight of 750g DELIVERY SPEEDS Business Mail 1 ST Class: next working day Business Mail: within three working days after the day of posting If you decide to sort your mail, the following are your options. Business Mail 1 ST Class: next working day Business Mail: 2 ND Class: delivery aim within two working days after the day of posting Economy: delivery aim within four working days after the day of posting Working days are six days per week, Monday Saturday. PAYMENT OPTIONS OBA: All options Posting Cheques: only available for Business Mail 1 st Class or Business Mail that does not meet our machine-readable or sorted specifications Meters: only available for Business Mail 1 st Class or Business Mail letters that are machinereadable and not sorted. PAYMENT INDICIA Stamps: only available with Sorted options Meters: only available with Machine-readable options for letters PPI s: see examples on the following page: Business Mail Summary October

3 NB: m is the indicia for Economy There are four sizes available in the English design and 3 sizes in the bilingual Welsh/English. MAIL 1 ST AND MAIL OPTIONS IN DETAIL If you do not want to make your mail machine-readable or do any sorting, simply hand your mail over to us and we will do the rest. This option is available for postings from only 1 item* and provides a lower price than stamped or meter franked mail for postings, and attracts volume related discounts. *minimum entry levels apply for discount. MACHINE-READABLE OPTIONS You can earn savings by preparing your mail so that addresses can be read by our sorting machines, but no sorting of your mail is required. Minimum of 500 letters or 250 large letters in a single mailing to obtain a discount. Containers: Trays for letters Trays for large letters up to 10mm in thickness Bags or ALPs (auto-levelling sleeved yorks) for large letters >10mm in thickness There are 3 levels of address accuracy and legibility: Machine-readable: earn savings for ensuring that 90% of your mail has full postcode and address accuracy Use either option below: Addresses printed with an OCR font (90% postcode and address accuracy). Available for letters and large letters. Barcode (also requires 90% minimum accurate DPS level). Available for letters only. Machine-readable Plus: earn savings for ensuring that 95% of your mail has full postcode and address accuracy Use either option below: Addresses printed with an OCR font (95% postcode and address accuracy). Available for letters Business Mail Summary October

4 and large letters. Barcode (also requires 95% minimum accurate DPS level). Available for letters only. Machine-readable Advanced: earn item-based savings for those items that can be read by our machines Available for letters only Recommended use of postcode and address accuracy, addresses printed with an OCR font but this is not specifically required SORTED OPTIONS You can earn savings by sorting your mail and ensuring your addresses are accurate. Minimum of 4,000 letters or 1,000 large letters in a single mailing Low Sort: for mail that meets our machine-readable specification, sort your mail to a maximum of 88 ways and ensure your items can be read by our sorting machines to achieve maximum savings Sort up to 88 selections as detailed in the Royal Mail Selection Files Ensure that 90% of your mail has postcode and address accuracy compared to PAF and use either option below: Addresses printed with an OCR font. Available for both letters and large letters Barcode (also requires 90% minimum accurate DPS). Available for letters only Containers: Trays or bags for letters Trays or bags for large letters up to 10mm in thickness Bags or ALPs for large letters >10mm in thickness When using trays, you must have an average of at least 100 letters or 25 large letters per selection across the mailing High Sort: sort your mail to a maximum of 1,525 ways to earn savings Sort up to 1,525 Direct Selections or 88 Residue Selections as detailed in the Royal Mail Selection Files Ensure that 90% minimum postcode and address accuracy compared to PAF You must have a minimum of 50 letters or 10 large letters for a Direct Selection Containers: Trays, bags or unbagged for letters Trays, bags or unbagged for large letters up to 10mm in thickness Bags, unbagged or ALPs for large letters >10mm in thickness When using trays, you must also have an average of at least 100 letters or 25 large letters per selection across the mailing Business Mail Summary October

5 AVAILABILITY OF MAIL 1 st AND MAIL WITH OTHER ROYAL MAIL OFFERS If you don t want to sort your mail: MAIL 1 st MAIL SECOND Sustainable Advertising Mail Not available Not available First Time User Not available Not available Tailor Made Incentives Available Available Multistage* - Main stage Available Available Multistage - secondary stage Not available Not available Volume Related Discounts Available Available Term contracts Not available Not available * Mailing must have advertising content only If you want to sort your mail: Class MAIL 1 ST MAIL SECOND MAIL Economy Sustainable Advertising Mail Not available Not available Not available First Time User Not available Not available Not available Tailor Made Incentives Not available Not available Not available Multistage* - Main stage Available Available Available Multistage - secondary stage Not available Not available Available Volume Related Discounts Available Available Available Term contracts Available Available Available *Mailing must have advertising content only Business Mail Summary October

6 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS I use Cleanmail at the moment. Will I have to use something else in future? Yes, the new Machine-readable options are replacing the current Cleanmail products. I currently use Mailsort 70, 120, 700 or Will I have to use something else? Yes, the new Sorted options will replace the old Mailsort products. If you use Mailsort 70, 120 or 700 currently, the easiest thing for you to do will be to start using one of the Low Sort options. If you use Mailsort 1400, then you should switch to High Sort. Is there any change to the current specifications for applying an OCR address? No, when you use one of the new OCR options such as one of the Machine-readable options or Low Sort OCR, the actual OCR specification is the same as current. I currently use a CBC (Customer Barcode) product. What do I use in future? We will no longer use the term CBC and will in future refer to this method of preparing your mail as Barcode. The specification for using a Barcode on letters with the new options will however be the same as the current CBC, at the current time. I see that the new OCR options can be used for sending both Letters or Large Letters. Currently though I can t send Large Letters with Mailsort 70 or 120 OCR, so what has changed? We are introducing a new OCR Large Letter option for Low Sort (sorted up to 88 ways) and for large letters where no sorting has been done. Is there a Sustainable Mail option with Business Mail 1 st Class and Business Mail? No, there is no Sustainable Mail option within the Business Mail range because general correspondence and items of a personalised nature do not lend themselves to being recycled by their recipients. I use Mailsort 3 Deferred at the moment; will the deferred facility still be available in future? Yes, deferred mailings are available with Economy, but they will need to be sent in bags and not in trays. Do I still need to be accredited to use OCR and Barcode options? Yes, if your company is not already accredited by us to post Cleanmail or Mailsort OCR or CBC products, you will be required to gain accreditation before you can post Business Mail with the option to make your mail machine-readable using OCR or Barcode, or with the option for Low Sort What are the Royal Mail Selection Files? This is the new name for the Mailsort Database. The Royal Mail Selection Files detail the Selection Codes (SC) that you must sort to when posting using our Sorted options. Royal Mail, the cruciform, the colour red and all are registered trademarks and all TM are trademarks of Royal mail Group Ltd. Business Mail Summary Royal Mail Group Ltd All rights reserved. Business Mail Summary October