Hospice Lotteries Association Conference 2014 SAVE ON THE THINGS YOU SEND Graham Cooper Managing Director

Agenda 1.Data 2.VAT 3.Mail Pack Specification

Data Pack costs Postage & print costs – anything between 50p and £1 per pack For every 100 packs not delivered – waste of between £50 - £100

Reasons for non-delivery of packs Recipient has ‘gone away’ In-correct addressing Recipient deceased Recipient duplicated

Tackling non-delivery Always carry an ‘if undelivered’ address – it’s a Royal Mail Requirement for some products Always action returns Give recipients preferences Consider Data Cleansing

Data Cleansing Usually an audit is FREE It checks for:- Address validity – Postal Address File (PAF) Matching Deceased Gone Aways Duplicates – create your own rules

Example of a Data Cleansing Report Client X – received 4163PAF 380Redirection 106Duplicates 754Gone Aways 958Mortality

Data Cleansing Results Outlay£1,130 Saving – for one mailing only£2,000+ Additionally CUTS WASTE RESPONSIBLE ATTITUDE FULFIL REQUIREMENTS FOR ROYAL MAIL PRODUCTS

VAT This only matters if you aren’t registered for VAT and can’t offset the tax charge Most Royal Mail business products attract VAT. Exceptions include:- Franking Stamps Account (no discounts available) All Royal Mail Wholesale Products except parcels are charged to Access Contract Holders (like ONEPOST) without VAT but we are obliged to charge VAT to our customers – unless they have an Agency Account

So what’s an Agency Account? Simply it’s an agreement recognised by HMRC between the client, the postal provider and Royal Mail which allows the postal provider to pass on the postage element at cost as a disbursement without VAT.

Financial Advantages of an Agency Agreement 10,000 letters OCRRoyal Mail (RM) Add VAT Total cost ,000 letters OCRRM Wholesale (RMW) Distribution VAT Total ,000letters OCR RMW Agency Agreement 23p Distribution VAT (Distribution only) Total (Typical costs)

How do we obtain? You need to spend £5,500 on postage in a year Complete a simple application form Normally takes 2 to 3 weeks Invoices still come via your postage provider but the postage element does not attract VAT

Mail Pack Specification Advertising Mail Responsible Mail Product specification

Advertising Mail Worth 4p a letter Guidelines are not always clear but newsletters are discounted Ask your postal provider for advice from Royal Mail

Responsible Mail – only applies to Advertising Mail Two levels Entry level saves0.5p per item Intermediary level saves1p per item Requirements relate to address validity and the use of ‘environmentally friendly’ products MUST be Advertising Mail

Product Specification All Royal Mail Wholesale products require 90% PAF level matching Customer Barcode (CBC) discounts require the addition of Delivery Point Suffix to generate information for the barcode – obtained via data cleaning If you don’t want a barcode then OCR is an option but comes with envelope layout restrictions and offers a lower discount than CBC Presenting mail in trays – gives additional 0.2p discount

Summary - Financial Royal Mail (RM)Solution 10,000 items3156 RM Wholesale3140 RM Wholesale with Agency2760 RM Wholesale Agency/Ad Mail2460 RM Wholesale Agency/Ad Mail/Responsible2360 RM Wholesale CBC Agency/Ad Mail/Responsible2060 RM Wholesale CBC Agency/Ad Mail/Responsible/Trays2040 (Typical costs)

Summary Do ask for advice Do consider an Agency Agreement Think about all your postal activity including office mail, stamps and franked mail.

THANK YOU QUESTIONS?