Royal Mail, which was acquired by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky and his EP Group in 2025, had proposed an average 25% wholesale price increase from 5 October 2026. That significant jump prompted concerns across the industry and led to a collaboration between Access Contract holders, mail industry bodies, and real-life input from high-volume mailers.
This collaboration led to a formal Access dispute being lodged with Ofcom, which was accepted on the 4th of September. This effectively halted Royal Mail’s price increase while Ofcom investigates whether the uplift in the pricing published was fair and reasonable and met Royal Mail’s own access terms and conditions.
For high-volume mailers, this means the proposed wholesale increases won’t be coming into effect in October as planned. It’s currently expected that Ofcom’s investigation will conclude in January 2027, so we don’t anticipate further wholesale price changes during 2026.
But there’s another Royal Mail pricing change coming, and it’s important not to confuse the two. Let’s get into it:
Wholesale and Retail: Why the Difference Matters
Royal Mail has different pricing structures depending on how mail enters its network:
Wholesale access pricing is used by access operators and mailing companies that handle high volumes of business mail. Items that are sent via a Wholesale product enter Royal Mail’s network further downstream; hence, a lot of the sortation and linehaul has been done by mailing houses/DSA suppliers. Royal Mail posties still do the final mile delivery. This solution is where the proposed October increases would’ve impacted, which are now currently suspended.
Retail pricing, meanwhile, is what businesses pay when posting directly with Royal Mail. So, when using standard retail products, a franking machine or a Royal Mail direct account. Royal Mail’s own fleet of vehicles collect this mail directly before taking it back to the local delivery centre, where Royal Mail then undertake the full sortation and linehaul nationwide, before posties deliver to doorsteps.
A number of Royal Mail’s 2nd Class retail products are due to increase in price from 5 October 2026, which is separate from the wholesale dispute and won’t be paused.
Since there are businesses still sending hundreds or thousands of letters a week through their own mailroom or directly with Royal Mail, the October changes make this a useful time to review whether that’s really the most cost-effective approach.
What the Wholesale Delay Means for High-Volume Mailers
For businesses using wholesale access services, the immediate message is fairly simple: the proposed October increases are on hold.
That gives businesses more time to plan rather than having to build a substantial increase into campaigns scheduled for 2026. It also gives mailing providers and their customers some breathing space to see what Ofcom ultimately decides. In 2024, Royal Mail was fined £10.5m by Ofcom for failing to meet delivery targets, so we’re very interested to see what happens.
However, the delay shouldn’t be interpreted as the end of the issue. The proposed increases are only suspended while the dispute is investigated – not taken off the table.
With the investigation expected to conclude in January 2027, the question of future wholesale pricing remains very much on the table.
So for organisations sending tens or hundreds of thousands of items, it’s worth keeping an eye on the issue, while also considering alternatives.
What About the October Retail Price Rises?
The retail increases are a little different.
If your business has a direct Royal Mail account and regularly sends mail using retail products, now could really be a good time to review what you’re paying and whether there’s a more efficient way to handle your volumes.
If your business regularly sends 1,000 items or more, bakergoodchild can most likely help you save money.
That’s not because every business using Royal Mail directly is doing something wrong. Retail postage is simply designed for a different type of customer and mailing requirement than what you actually need. Once volumes reach a certain level, there are lots of opportunities to use bulk processing, sorting, consolidation and wholesale access arrangements instead.
And this is something worth looking at before another price increase makes the difference more noticeable.
Tip: We recently shared our top tips for saving money on direct mail fulfilment on our blog.
Don’t Just Look at the Postage Price
While all of this revolves around postage pricing, it’s wise not to consider that cost in isolation.
This is because, when you’re sending 100,000 letters, relatively small efficiencies in data preparation, sorting, production, fulfilment and consolidation can add up quickly, and bleed into postage.
So, data should be cleansed before production, mail prepared and sorted efficiently, and production and fulfilment can be coordinated around postal requirements. The result is a process designed to make the most of the volumes you’re already sending.
This is particularly valuable when postal prices are going up. You may not be able to control the price Royal Mail charges, but you can get your mail into the network more efficiently.
Is it Time to Review Your Mailing Costs?
The current situation presents two slightly different opportunities.
If you’re a high-volume mailer using wholesale access, you have some breathing space before the next major pricing decision is made.
If you’re regularly posting 1,000+ items directly through Royal Mail’s retail channels, the October price increases could be a good reason to investigate whether you could reduce your overall postage costs by changing how your mail is processed.
At bakergoodchild, we’re independent of Royal Mail, so we’re able to look at your mailing volumes and current process objectively and identify whether there are more cost-effective options.
You don’t necessarily need to change your entire mailing operation. Often, simply changing how mail is prepared, consolidated and entered into the postal network makes a meaningful difference.
Keeping Your Mail Costs Under Control
Postal pricing will always be outside your direct control. What you can control is how efficiently your organisation prepares and manages its mail.
At bakergoodchild, we bring together data preparation, print, fulfilment and mailing to help businesses make the most of their volumes. We can also review existing mailing arrangements to find opportunities to reduce costs.
With wholesale price changes currently on hold, there’s no need to make decisions based on an increase that isn’t happening yet.
But if you’re paying Royal Mail retail prices for regular, high-volume mail, now’s a very good time to ask whether you’re getting the best possible value.
If you’ve got questions, give us a call at 0800 612 1972. We’ll happily help you ensure you’re getting the best value for your money.
