Business Post targets monopoly

BUSINESS Post Group, the company that hopes to break Royal Mail's 360-year monopoly on residential post, believes it will be delivering to homes across Britain by September.

Chief executive Paul Carvell said today the company's negotiations with industry regulator Postcomm would be resolved by then, enabling Business Post to launch its two-day delivery service.

Dubbed business class, the service is expected to cost somewhere between the 27p and 16p charged by Royal Mail for its overnight first-class delivery and the second-class service, which takes three to five days.

Business Post appealed to the regulator after failing to reach an agreement with Royal Mail on prices for accessing the local delivery network.

The group also said pre-tax profit had jumped 19% to £15.1m in the year to 31 March on the back of strong growth in its express division, which delivers parcels between businesses. Turnover was up 6.5% at £131.7m as margins grew from 9.9% to 11.1% in the face of a tough environment. The dividend has been lifted to 16p, compared with a previous 15.1p.

Business Post said it has 6% of the British market for express parcel deliveries, following a deal to become FedEx's British agent.