£163m bill for UK businesses over wrongly addressed mail

Error-strewn letters and packages cost UK businesses around £163 million in 2002, according to research published today by the Royal Mail.

The research from Royal Mail indicated that more than two thirds of all business letters had one or more errors – like incorrect addresses or simply that the addressed company had relocated. This amounted to around 172 million items of mail that were sent to businesses that had moved or ceased to trade, costing UK businesses in excess of £163 million in 2002.

On the back of this research, Royal Mail has advised companies in the UK to ensure their customer records are correct and up-to date.

The Royal Mail Business Changes File said that the fast-paced business world of today, however, often made it difficult for clients to keep up. Their research found that 5.7 million business changes were made each year – which amounted to: a company name change occurs every minute; a Chief Executive changes every minute; a business closes every minute; a business fails every four minutes; and a business moves office every six minutes.

In response to these figures, Royal Mail has launched a new database product aimed at UK business owners that tracks, monitors and updates change to businesses each month.

The Royal Mail Business Changes File, developed in association with D & B, enables businesses not only to keep track of present customers, but to identify new leads of businesses that have just started or have just moved. This is a key time when they are most likely to buy new products and services.

Richard Roche, Head of Business Development at Royal Mail, said: "Royal Mail is in a unique position to help the UK's business community to achieve more from their post. It seems incredible that so many fail to accurately target customer addresses."

He added: "We are dedicated to enabling businesses to deliver more targeted mailings and, ultimately, generate more sales."

(gmcg)