Royal Mail is still in consultation regarding the new charges but is anxious to bring the plan into force.

However, when WWAV retrospectively worked out the cost of mailings using the proposed size-based pricing, in some cases it found the difference to be as much as 300% even for mailings that were not especially large of heavy.

The agencys spokesman said that by introducing these measures, Royal Mail was undoing its work to promote the direct mail medium. It would be a tax on creativity and lessen direct mails attractiveness as a medium, said the spokesman.

Royal Mails head of Media Solutions, Tim Rivett, said that the firms chairman, Allan Leighton, and chief executive Adam Crozier were keen to drive costs out of the business. Were anxious to go ahead with it [size-based pricing] as it has no revenue implications but has high cost savings for us, he said.