Private customers and businesses sending parcels from Jersey will benefit from lower costs from January 28, with prices falling 18% to send to the UK, 12% to send to the island, 14% to the rest of the world and 1% to Europe.
However, as letter volumes continue to decline, Jersey Post has announced local and UK letter (100g) prices will rise to 80p (US$0.98) and £1.35 (US$1.65) respectively. Sending a letter to Europe will increase by an average of 7% and to the rest of world by an average of 1.7%.
According to Jersey Post, these increases will ensure letters cover their costs while helping to protect the Universal Service Obligation, giving customers access to one price to post anywhere on the island or to the UK five days a week.
Mark Siviter, Jersey Post‘s group CEO, explained, “We remain committed to providing islanders with accessible postal services. However, we’ve had to make some tough decisions to ensure we have a sustainable and viable service for the future. The way customers use our service is changing; in particular, people are sending fewer cards and letters. We’ve held our local and UK letter prices for two years, so the loss of volume and above-inflation cost increases from many of our suppliers has particularly affected the cost of UK and local letters.
“We need to cover the costs of running our post office network and think it’s right we pay our hard-working posties the living wage. Where possible, we’ve reduced our parcel pricing to support customers and local businesses, and are introducing a range of volume-based discounts for businesses.”