Gloucestershire cardmaker’s business fears as latest Royal Mail postage stamp increase due

One of the UK’s leading suppliers of greeting cards based in Gloucestershire wants to make customers aware they can still send a card but must think about sending them earlier ahead of a rise in the cost of stamps. Cherry Orchard Publishing located at Twyning near Tewkesbury says it is shocked about Royal Mail increasing the price for postage stamps again this month, but the owner of the business Jackie Collins has not sat on her laurels.

As the owner since 1995, Jackie says she has noticed that her customers are already looking for orders sooner rather than later year after year. Creating posters which will be distributed to card shops across the UK, the campaign aims to try and help the trade encourage their customers to carry on sending a greeting card and dodge the postal increase by sending second-class.

From Monday October 2, the cost of a first-class stamp will be hiked to £1.25 (up 15p from £1.10). Other stamp prices will also rise, though standard second-class stamps will remain at their current price of 75p. This the second time the price of standard-letter size first-class stamps have been hiked this year, after going up 16 per cent in April.

READ MORE: Boost for bus passengers in Gloucestershire after multi-million pound investment in services

READ MORE: Gloucester leaders rally round calls to save city’s railway station ticket office from closure

The increase in postage makes Jackie feel frustrated for her business and the industry as a whole. While the greeting card industry was hit hard last year with postal strikes (now resolved), it is Royal Mail and their decision to increase postage that Jackie fears will discourage people from sending Christmas cards.

“From my point of view I want Royal Mail to know and understand the importance of greeting cards. Where will the increase end?”, Jackie said.

“You only have to look at the percentage increase, it’s beyond my understanding. When will it stop and what will it take to stop hurting our industry?”

Sending a card, particularly at Christmas matters Jackie adds, because “the nostalgia and care in sending a card, especially to older people is huge. Greeting cards can help those feeling lonely at Christmas, it shows you care.”

One independent card shop that Cherry Orchard Publishing supplies to is The Card Rack on Tewkesbury High Street. Having worked in the shop for 20 years and now the owner for six years, Lisa Thompson thinks the campaign is sensible when a card makes people think you’re thought of.

“I totally agree, especially when first class just doesn’t mean first class anymore,” Lisa said. “As a business I’d say second class is the way forward.”

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We really appreciate that many of our customers are finding it hard in the current economic environment and have sought to keep prices as low as possible. Continued letter volume decline combined with increasing costs and the highest inflation rates for a generation were the among the reasons behind these changes”.

They go on to say: “The reality is the volume of letters posted has reduced dramatically over recent years. They are down over 60 per cent from the peak of 2004/5 and are 30 per cent lower since the pandemic as customers increasingly switch to digital communications.

“We need to carefully balance our pricing against declining mail volumes to ensure we can continue to maintain and invest in the Universal Service.”