VAT for 1kg Royal Mail parcels to go into effect from 1st August 2011.

From the 1st August 2011 parcels weighing more than 1kg, posted using certain Royal Mail bulk account services will attract VAT at the standard rate. The specific services affected are:

Mailsort 3 1400
Presstream 1 & 2
Packetpost 1 & 2
Packetsort 1 & 2

Many of you will have been affected with the changes in VAT From the 31st January this year, where certain Royal Mail services attracted VAT for the first time. The services attracting VAT are International Airsure (to EU destinations), Special Delivery by 9am and Royal Mail Tracked. In addition if you access any Special Delivery service through a contract then it also attracts VAT. All Parcelforce domestic and EU services also attract VAT.

Packetpost and Packetsort

If the Packetpost Daily Rate average weight exceeds 1kg, all packets that day will incur VAT, but if the average weight is 1kg or less then they won’t. Likewise for Packetpost Flat Rate contracts, if the contracted weight is 1kg or less then all packets will be VAT exempt, whereas if the contracted weight exceeds 1kg then all packets will be liable to VAT. (Note that this refers to sales orders, and not totals for the day. For example, if a customer makes 3 sales orders in one day, say from different parts of the organisation, each will be treated separately for VAT purposes.)

1kg + parcels sent using Royal Mail’s Standard Tariff rates will not be impacted, so no change for 1st class, 2nd class and Standard Parcels services purchased at Post Offices or via Online Postage.

This is going to be interesting to say the least for some businesses who use franking machines. If your items are roughly all the same weight you’ll be largely certain of your VAT position – you’ll either have an average weight above or below the VAT threshold.

What it will introduce is the ability to game the system for retailers who aren’t VAT registered and so can’t reclaim VAT. If your posting profile is generally below 1kg but on a certain day you have a larger than normal quantity of heavier parcels, which would push your average weight for the day over 1kg, it may be in your interest to delay despatch of a couple of parcels until you have enough light items to bring your average back down.

If you believe that the changes to the VAT system may affect your franking machines or require more information, please feel to contact The Mailing Room on 0161 797 7778 or visit http://www.themailingoom.com

In today’s deregulated postal market all dispatch managers /facility managers must look for the most cost effective way to send out documents.

The MailSave+ software for Centormail allows you to add 5 additional carriers of choice to the standard Royal Mail services.

This choice of carriers will put you in control meaning that:-

•    you choose the service level
•    non time critical mail can be sent more cost effectively
•    volume thresholds for discounts can be reduced by shopping around to get the best price and service match
•    daily and bulk mailings can attract increased postal discounts by choosing different providers
•    dispatch volumes can be audited and supplier invoices cross-checked
•    you can access full departmental cost accounting
•    self billing system can be set up to avoid the need to cross check billings

MailSave+ multi-carrier cost accounting
The decentralisation of budgets means that postal costs must be allocated back to a department level. Difficulties in cost accounting to a departmental level have often reduced the access to and use of the most cost effective carriers. Manual record keeping can be time consuming expensive and lead to billing discrepancies and invoice queries.

MailSave+ multi-carrier allows the user to:-

•    choose the dispatch solution that best suits the item
•    cost account back to department for all providers automatically
•    produce an audit of volumes sent
•    set up self billing processes with carriers to eliminate invoice queries
•    automate the purchase to pay process for postal payments

For more information on the latest money and time saving services for your business including franking machines visit http://www.themailingroom.com

Bibby Consulting and Support announce their last exhibition road show of the current tour.

It’s not too late to attend the last in the series of exhibiton road shows put on by Bibby Consulting and Support. June 6th and 7th sees the road show at its final destination, the Care Forum, Heythrop Park Resort, Oxford.

With 5 major events planned in just 6 weeks the team are busy preparing themselves to talk to business leaders up and down the country explaining why Bibby Consulting & support are the supplier of choice.

May 4th saw the start of Bibby Consulting & Support’s exhibition road show at the Manchester Central Business Complex before heading to Newport, Liverpool and Oxford.

Bibby Consulting & Support is part of the Bibby Line Group, a family run business with a distinguished 200-year heritage, encompassing financial services, retailing, logistics, shipping, marine and offshore services.

With businesses and business owners being safeguarded through the expert management of human resources and ensure essential compliance with Employment Law, Health, Safety and Environmental obligations.

As part of a family owned and run enterprise, Bibby Consulting and Support (Bibby CAS)understand the needs of smaller businesses. Their membership of The Bibby Line Group has given them a unique insight into the importance of maintaining a strong customer-focused and people-based culture, to support the growth and development of a successful business.

If you would like to join the Bibby CAS team at the Heythrop Park event, or just find out more about how Bibby CAS can help your business through their employment law specialists and health and safety advisors, visit http://www.bibbycas.com

Cypher Digital Imaging, the Cumbria based design and print agency, is pleased to announce new lower prices on replacement banner and exhibition stand panels.

Clients with an existing popup display banner or exhibition stand can now take advantage of a replacement panel service. Outdated details and graphics are unacceptable when attending a show or exhibition. Updating an existing banner system will save money and considerably cuts down on wasted materials. Cypher will design and print replacements to fit into an existing system and even service and repair the system should it be required. With tough economic times for businesses and with many choosing to conduct their business practices in a more eco friendly way, this replacement service from Cypher Digital Imaging is the way forward without compromising on the most important part of an exhibition stand, the look and quality.

Replacement prices are as follows:
•    Full set of 5 panels for a 3×3 popup (3 front and 2 curved ends) ONLY £365.00+VAT
•    Full set of 5 panels PLUS a case wrap for ONLY £399.00+VAT
•    Set of 3 front panels for a 3×3 popup ONLY £225.00+VAT
•    Single panel ONLY £92.50+VAT

Cypher Digital Imaging has been at the forefront of digital print for over 16 years. The company was originally started as an imagesetting bureau department within a local Applecentre in 1990. After a period of rapid expansion the department was purchased in a management buyout by husband and wife team Paul and Sue Calland in January 1995. The number of staff has steadily grown over the years and now has a vast range of complementary skills in all fields of design, digital artwork production and print, as well as more diverse specialities such as vehicle wrapping, web site production and programming.

For more information on the replacement banner stands and exhibition stands service available from Cypher and for more information on the latest systems including Linx Modular and T3 Airframe, visit http://www.cypherdigital.co.uk

Royal Mail announced its annual stamp price rises which took effect from 4 April 2011.

Stamp prices in the UK have increased by a record amount – with a First Class stamp rising by 5p to 46p. Second Class stamps will rise 4p to 36p, whilst the cost of a large letter stamp will rise by 9p to 75p for First Class items and 7p to 58p for Second Class mail.

A stamp for a first class large letter now costs 75p but sending it as franked mail only costs 55p.

There is no better time to switch to Franking and to see how much you can save, The Mailing Room, have a Savings Calculator.
By making the switch to a franking machine from The Mailing Room, businesses small and large will instantly benefit.

•    Never run out of stamps – postage available 24hrs a day,
7 days a week.
•    Your company logo and return address
•    Time saving – Integrated scales give you the correct postal tariff for all mail
• save at least 8p on every letter you send*!
•    Added security on postage funds
•    Time saving – automated scales, frank and seal machines
•    Frank any value including Special Delivery and Registered
•    Support from our nationwide network of experienced engineers and customer service teams

The Mailing Room is a leading supplier of mailroom equipment and  consumables including franking machines, postal scales, folding and inserting machines and letter openers. The Mailing Room is brought to you by an alliance of FP Mailing (North West) Limited, FP Mailing (South) Limited and FP Executive Agency Limited.

*Saving relates to the discount offered on first class and second class letters only up to 100g. Prices effective from 4th April 2011. Discounts may vary.

For more information of The Mailing Room franking machines and other products and services, visit http://www.themailingroom.com.

Cypher Digital Imaging Ltd is pleased to announce the launch of their latest service, digital wallpaper.

Ideal for restaurants, attractions, hotels, residential, holiday lets, service areas and retail, Cypher’s digital wallpaper is prepasted so needs no additional adhesive. It is so simple to use that the customer can fit it themselves or a commercial decorator can fit it. The digital wallpaper is PVC free and is printed using HP’s environmentally friendly Latex inks. Unlike solvent inks these are not harmful to the environment and have no odour, making it safe for any domestic or commercial applications. The ultra smooth finish and the latex base of the inks provide vivid colour graphics with high-definition detail.

The benefits of this new digital wallpaper compared with the older PVC based substrates are vast.  As well as the environmental benefits of this new digital wallpaper, it also meets commercial wall covering standards and for indoor use, has a permanence of 10 years+. Should that length of permanence not be required, the digital wallpaper comes with a manufacturers warranty for clean removal. In terms of safety, the wallpaper is flame retardant so meets health and safety guidelines.

It was a colourful start to 2011 at the new Furmanite IT & Training Centre in Kendal. Furmanite commissioned a full colour digital wallpaper graphic for the new centre from Cypher. The graphic which is a very colourful montage of Furmanite workers undertaking various tasks is a huge 9.5m wide and just under 2.5m high. It was printed on the latest HP PVC-free wall paper using environmentally friendly 1.5m wide HP latex printer.

For more information on digital wallpaper and to obtain quotes, visit http://www.cypherdigital.co.uk/new05/printed-wallpaper.html

Cypher Digital Imaging Ltd are pleased to announce their latest piece of environmentally friendly equipment.

To continue their aim of reducing the impact of printing on the environment, Cypher Digital have invested in the latest state of the art 60″ wide HP large format printer which uses water-based latex inks, which as well as producing better quality prints than ever, offers outdoor permanence and durability. The inks are non-flammable and unlike solvent based or UV inks which are typically used for this kind of outdoor print they are not potentially harmful to the operator and emit no harmful VOC’s (Volatile organic compounds), so do not need special ventilation during production (which pumps it into the air we all breathe anyway!) – more importantly for you or your clients they do not smell strongly of solvent.

This also means Cypher can now offer a new wider range of media for outdoor and indoor applications such as banner material, backlit film, fabrics and self adhesive vinyl which are scratch, smudge and water resistant and ready to use right out of the printer.

These include a number of materials that are fully recyclable through our take-back programme – simply return them to us when you are finished with them and we will ensure they are recycled properly. These include: Heavy textile banner fabric, light textile banner fabric, flag material, HDPE reinforced banner material.

Plus Cypher can still mount prints onto a wide range of boards up to 1500mm x 3000mm to suit all your requirements – foamex, dibond, MDF, aluminium, correx, or print and apply graphic wraps to vehicles, walls and windows.

Go green with your exhibition stands and advertising graphics including Linx exhibition systems. Contact Cypher now for further details or quotes at http://www.cypherdigital.co.uk

2011 Double Glazing and Conservatory Ombudsman Scheme plans to be announced at the RICOH Arena.

The Double Glazing and Conservatory Ombudsman Scheme (DGCOS) will be presenting its plans for 2011 and its latest television and radio campaign at the RICOH Arena in Coventry this November. Hosted by TV’s Nick Ross, the scheme’s spokesman, the event will also include seminars by founding members, sponsors and a talk by Tony Pickup.

“This is an event for members and those who are interested in membership,” explains Tony Pickup, founder of the Ombudsman Scheme, which was launched in January this year. “We are calling the event: A Mission to Improve the Industry’s Reputation. DGCOS has already attracted 273 (as of 9th August 2010) installer sign-ups, well over its target so far. “Window and conservatory companies will get the opportunity to find out more about the scheme, its marketing support and the 2011 consumer campaign. It’s also a chance for members to network and to put forward ideas and suggestions for the further development of the scheme.”

Tony adds: “Members who have signed up by 1st October and attend the event (following successful accreditation) can have their picture taken with senior members of the DGCOS team and special guests at the launch, which can be framed for use in their showroom (terms and conditions apply).”

Places are limited and it is expected that there will be significant interest in the event. Further details including double glazing advice can be found at http://www.dgcos.org.uk.

MailSave+ Optimisation Event is a complimentary, invitation-only event taking place at a Village Hotel near you.

You simply can’t afford to miss this if you want to get the most out of mail and postal optimisation.

What is MailSave+?
In today’s deregulated postal market all dispatch and facilities managers must look for the most cost-effective way to send out business critical documents. MailSave+ is a new and unique service that gives you the choice of postal provider and discounts when you send your mail.

Who’s it for?
Small to medium sized businesses and public sector bodies whose mail volumes do not meet the traditional pre-sorted or Cleanmail volume criteria.
Postrooms who want a cost effective service for non time critical traditional second class mail.

What are the benefits to you – the customer?
•    Reduced cost per item on every item
•    Lower volume thresholds attract discount on every item
•    Volumes can be averaged to meet collection minimums
•    Collections times that are convenient for you
•    A cost-effective and flexible way of achieving daily mail discounts

The Mailing Room is a leading supplier of mailroom equipment and consumables including franking machines, postal scales, folding and inserting machines and letter openers. The Mailing Room is brought to you by an alliance of FP Mailing (North West) Limited, FP Mailing (South) Limited and FP Executive Agency Limited.

For more information on MailSave+ from The Mailing Room, visit http://www.themailingroom.com

Portable Building Sales recently won a contract to supply two modular buildings to the Coventry Primary Care Trust.

The first modular building we installed as a temporary walk in centre, was a used 6 bay modular building.

Prior to arrival on site, jackpad foundations were used to erect the building instead of traditional concrete foundations.

Portable Building Sales have agreed to purchase the building back after the Primary Care Trust no longer have a use for the building and in addition will also purchase the jackpad foundations leaving a clear and clean car park area once again.
The Portable Building Sales “buy back” scheme ensures that the building is removed safely, professionally and to the current Health & Safety and CDM regulations. They ensure that the Primary Care Trust has no disposal problems and receives payment for the building before it is removed.

Portable Building Sales Ltd is one of the few companies in the UK to provide this type of service.

The used steel framed modular building that was supplied consists of six plastic coated steel modules which have white Upvc double glazed windows. The building also has a plasterboard lined ceiling and walls and a double thickness plywood floor.

This used modular building was decorated internally, cleaned externally and reinstated electrically to the latest regulations.

This temporary modular walk in centre building complies with the current Part L2A 2006 building regulations and is extremely environmentally friendly as it only uses 3% of the energy required to manufacture an equivalent new modular building. This is because the embodied energy is transportable and therefore can be relocated to a new site.

Also there are significant cost savings to the client and in this instance the tax payer as well, as this building was approximately a third of the cost of an equivalent new manufactured modular building.

Portable Building Sales completed the installation of this building within four weeks from the date of order and to the client’s complete satisfaction.
Even though the modular buildings pre-owned, Portable Building Sales still provide a 12 months guarantee with the building.

Portable Building Sales provided the Coventry Primary Care Trust with complete peace of mind throughout the process of attending meetings, submission of our Health & Safety plans, supply and installation of the used modular building, arrangement of the crane, to even organising the transportation and temporary traffic management to enable the building to be off loaded from a road adjacent to the site.

For more information please visit http://www.portablebuildingsales.co.uk or telephone 01482 656590

The Mailing Room, the Royal Mail approved franking machine supplier are pleased to announced the launch of their new MailSave+ service.

MailSave+ is an access to postal discounts. The details of the service are as follows:

•    A 2 or a 3 day non time critical mail service for small to medium sized businesses
•    Low volume threshold to access postal savings
•    Unsorted mail
•    Daily or one off collections
•    Regional and National service

Who’s it for?

Small to medium sized businesses and public sector bodies whose mail volumes do not meet the traditional pre-sorted or Cleanmail volume criteria.
Postrooms who want a cost effective service for non time critical traditional second class mail.

What are the benefits to you – the customer?
•    Reduced cost per item on every item
•    Lower volume thresholds attract discount on every item
•    Volumes can be averaged to meet collection minimums
•    Collections times that are convenient for you
•    A cost-effective and flexible way of achieving daily mail discounts

Are there minimum volumes?
•    A minimum of 250 items per collection is required
•    Minimum collection volumes may be aggregated
•    Minimum volume collections may vary with Geographic location

Start saving today, visit http://www.themailingroom.com The Mailing Room franking machine supplier for more information and how you can start benefitting from the MailSave+ service.

Royal Mail has announced 1st and 2nd class standard mail price increases which will take effect from 6 April 2010.

The price of 1st class standard mail (weighing up to 100g) will increase by 2p to 41p and 2nd class mail by the same margin to 32p. Postage price increases are nothing new but what does differ with this price increase is that of ordinary meter and account mail, i.e. mail franked by franking machines. The prices for franked mail are to be kept at the old rate.

This is great news for businesses and organisations that send out high volumes of mail but such a saving, typically 7p* on 2nd class franked mail, is now making franking machines an attractive option for even smaller mail outputs, for example, 25-50 items per day.

Using a franking machine means stamps never run out and mail can be organised and posted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Integrated scales give you the correct postal tariff for all mail ensuring complete accuracy. Increased brand awareness and the ability to send messages on franking labels are other advantages of using franking machines.

Efficiency in business is the key in today’s climate both in the form of money and time saving. Franking machines create savings on both for a business or organisation. For example, if you had an employee on a salary of £14k per annum, and they made one 30 minute trip to the post office every week you could save an additional £14.60 a week by using franked mail. So not only with the price freeze on franked mail from April 6 but with more efficiency in time management, franking machines should be the way forward for thousands of businesses.

The Mailing Room is a leading supplier of mailroom equipment and consumables including franking machines. Visit http://www.themailingroom.com for more information.

*Saving relates to the discount offered on first class and second class letters only up to 100g. Prices effective from 6th April 2010. Discounts may vary.

In 1998 we set up ‘The Executive Agency’ to focus on the needs of the Public Sector. We recognised the requirement of the sector to obtain ‘best value’ and to build long term mutually benificial relationships with its suppliers.

Since its inception The Executive Agency has built relationships with over 9000 publicly funded bodies. Our account managers have over 75 years combined experience of working with the public sector, assisting in optimizing the management of letter and parcel flows. The Mailing Room have current contracts with:

DEFRA, HMRC, CPS, Joint Universities Purchasing Consortium, LAPP, NEPO,Crescent Purchasing Consortium

To make the buying method simpler for public sector organisations The Mailing Room products are now available via:

Catalist
The Mailing Room (The Executive Agency) is an approved mailroom equipment and franking machine supplier subcontractor.
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