Royal Mail Business Mail 1st ClassRoyal Mail Business Mail

Overview

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Definition

Business Mail 1st 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 1st 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

Product specification

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Sortation options

•Unsortedwith no additional options

•UnsortedMachine-readable;

Optical Character Reference (OCR),

Mailmark Barcode and Customer Barcode

Machine-readable Advanced

•SortedLow Sort OCR

Low Sort Mailmark

Low Sort Barcode

High Sort

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Delivery speed• Unsorted options

1st Classdelivery aim of next working day

2nd Classdelivery aim within three working days after posting

• Sorted options

1st Classdelivery aim of next working day 2nd Classdelivery aim within two working days after posting

Economy (sorted only)Delivery aim within four working days after posting

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Formats

•Unsortedletter

large letter

•Sortedletter

large letter

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Formats

Max 240mm

Max 165mm

Max 5mmthick

Max 25mmthick

Max 250mm

Max 353mm

Letter Large Letter Large letter – machine readable

Weight Bands

Fixed Price 0 - 100g Fixed Price 101 - 250g 251 - 750g (in steps of 1g from 251gms)

Weight Bands

Fixed Price 0 - 100g Fixed Price 101 - 250g251 - 750g(in steps of 1g from 251gms)

Weight Bands

0 - 100g Fixed Price

Max245mm

Max 10mmthick

Max 345mm

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Volumes – minimum posting

Unsorted

500 letters or 250 large letters

Unsorted Advanced500 letters

Sorted4,000 letters or 1,000 large letters

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Address and postcode accuracy

Unsortedminimum 90% address & postcode accuracy

Advanced:minimum level of discount dependant on address & postcode accuracy to Postal Address File (PAF)

Sorted: Minimum 90% address & postcode accuracy

Product sortation

The Royal Mail Selection Files

Low Sort: machine-readableSort to 86 selections

OCR & Mailmark Barcode for letters and large letters

Customer Barcode for letters

High Sort: manual

Sort to 1529 Direct selections and/or

86 Residue selections

Minimum items per direct selection (sortation discount)

50 letters10 large letters

Sortation criteria – Low Sort

• one level of sortation

• * if trays are to be used then an average number of items across all selections mailed to in that posting must be a minimum of

100 letter or 25 large letters

if this cannot be achieved then bags must be used

Selections

minimum postcode & address accuracy level

(inc DPS)

Minimum volume* (trays)

Minimum volume (bags)

OCR 86 90% 100 letters

25 large letters

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Barcode 86 90% 100 letters 1Mailmark 86 90% 100 letters

25 large letters

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Sortation criteria – High Sort• Two levels of sortation available• Presentation*:

if trays are to be used then an average number of items across all selections mailed to in that posting must be a minimum of100 letter or 25 large lettersif this cannot be achieved then bags must be used

• Pricing:Minimum of 50 letters required for a ‘Direct’ discountMinimum of 10 large letters required for a ‘Direct’ discount

Selectionsminimum postcode & address accuracy level

Presentation - Minimum volume* (trays)

Pricing - Minimum no of items

Residue 86

90%

100 letters

25 large letters

1

Direct 1529 100 letters

25 large letters

50 letters

10 large letters

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•Combining separate client’s postings into a single posting

• Single set of direct

selections

• Single set of residue

selections

• Single computer

planning report

• Single line listing

• Consolidator’s Post

Paid Indicia number

• Consolidator’s

account number

Consolidation

Product presentation

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Mailpiece design

• Payment channel

Post Paid Indicia (PPI) and stamps - sorted options

PPI and meter – unsorted options

• Service indicator

PPI – 1, 2 or M

• Return address

• Standard selection code (SSC)

Optional for High Sort and Low Sort

• Design constraints

OCR, Mailmark and Barcode

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Presentation options - unsorted

Option A

YORK

FACE & BUNDLE SECURELY

BAG & LABEL

Option B

YORK

TRAY & LABEL

FACE CORRECTLY

Option C

IF OVER 10mm THICK, DO NOT

BUNDLE

BAG ALP

YORK

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Presentation options - sorted

Option A

CAGE

FACE & BUNDLE SECURELY

BAG & LABEL

SORT

Option B

CAGE

TRAY & LABEL

FACE CORRECTLY

SORT

Option C Option D

SORT

FACE & BUNDLE

SECURELY

CAGE

SORT

IF OVER 10mm THICK AND MIN OF 200 ITEMS

PER SELECTION, DO NOT BUNDLE

BAG ALP

CAGE

Containers

Unsortedtrays for letters

trays for large letters up to 10mm in thickness

bags or Auto Levelling Parcel containers (ALP)’s for large letters over 10mm

Sortedtrays* or bags for letters

trays* or bags for large letters up to 10mm in thickness

bags or ALPs * * for large letters over 10mm

large letters or High Sort letters may be unbagged

*you need an average of 100 letters or 25 large letters across all selections mailed to, if you cannot meet this then use bags

* * only with pre-agreement

Presentation - summaryTraysmandatory for all machine-readable unsorted postings

not permitted for large letters over 10mm

for sorted postings - can only be used if there is an average number of items per selection across all selections being mailed to

100 Letters25 Large Lettersif you cannot meet this requirement then you must use bagsthis criteria will not apply to International

Bagspermitted for all sorted products

ALPS machine-readable Large Letters over 10mm thick

Segregated Bundles permitted as current including for Low Sort Large Letters, not Low Sort Letters

Unwrapped permitted as current for High Sort

Payment & pricing

Payment

•All PPI indicia remain the same i.e. 1st 2nd and M (for economy mailings) indicating service speed and including the ‘Delivered by Royal Mail’ logo

•Posting cheques are only allowed for Business Mail with no additional options (previously known as STL)

•Meters are no longer permitted for any of the sorted product options

•Stamps are still permitted for sorted products & P3484 must accompany the posting

•Volume Related Discounts will now be allowed on some Residue sort products

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Payment indicia

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Discounts

• Machine-readabilityletters & large letters

Sorted options and non-sorted options

Advanced option

• SortationDirects & Residues

• Volume Related DiscountsLow Sort

Directs & Residues – High Sort

unsorted

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Volume Related Discounts - Residue• Residue VRDs do apply to:

Business Mail 1st Class with High Sort options

Business Mail with High Sort options

Other account offerings which are not related to Business Mail, Advertising Mail or Publishing Mail

other Account product offerings1st and 2nd Class (VAT exempt)

• BPL – Online Business Account (OBA) product code1st Class and 2nd Class

• No volume requirements• No additional options

No Volume Related Discounts availableNo options for sorting No mail machine-readable options 

• Presentation trays or bags permittedNo sortation

• PPI 1st or 2nd Class indicia as current including ‘Delivered by Royal Mail’

• Compensation as currently available for stamps and meters

NB: Do not use BM Advanced envelopes for the VAT exempt product offering

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IN SUMMARY…….

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•Options availableBusiness Mail with no options

Business Mail with sortation

Business Mail with machine-readable options

•Formatsletters

large letters

•Machine readabilityletters – OCR, Mailmark Barcode and Customer Barcode

large letters – OCR and Mailmark Barcode

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Royal Mail Support

Account handler

Product literature

User Guide

Royal Mail Technical helpline 0207 371 6957

Technical Consultant - Mark Pearce 07801 777 503

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Questions?