GCA being heard – Royal Mail update – Greeting Card Association

The ongoing issues regarding Royal Mail’s performance remain an incredibly important part of discussions and activity at the GCA – from council meetings and outreach by CEO Amanda Fergusson to day-to-day feedback from industry colleagues and at our GCA Local meet-ups.

In its role working on behalf of the industry to protect and promote greeting card sending, the GCA works with Ofcom as well as Royal Mail, the Government, opposition MPs and other stakeholders.

On 15^th May the regulator Ofcom announced that they would be investigating Royal Mail’s 2022/2023 delivery performance, for more on this see Ofcom’s website.

Amanda also discussed the issue again with the Government Minister responsible for post, Kevin Hollinrake, at the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters (NFSP) conference (pictured above).

In addition to the Ofcom announcement, we learnt in the last few weeks that messages the GCA has championed including safeguarding the Royal Mail’s Universal Service Obligation (USO) has made it onto the Labour Party’s policy priorities.

GCA CEO Amanda also spoke to David Gold, Director External Affairs & Policy at Royal Mail. As a testament to the good working relationship the GCA has with Royal Mail, David Gold, was keen to reassure members:

“We want to see a strong, successful greeting cards sector in the UK. We love delivering cards and letters and we know how much people enjoy receiving them through their letterbox, especially when delivered by their local postie.

Royal Mail is embarking on the biggest transformation programme in our five centuries of delivering the mail. Our aim is to improve our quality of service; to give our customers more of the services they want at a price they can afford; and to ensure that the Universal Service remains sustainable for the future.

We know recent times have been tough, and you need to be able to rely on us. We value our relationship with the GCA and appreciate their engagement with us. Let’s keep working together to achieve our common goal.”
David Gold, Royal Mail Director External Affairs and Policy

David Gold, seen here on the right with GCA’s Amanda Fergusson

Lobbying that the GCA undertakes on behalf of members needs regular insight from members, to ensure the focus is where it needs to be for the whole industry. Thank you to all of you who completed our survey, there is still time to do that here by completing this questionnaire.