Businesses are set be further affected by the series of postal strikes that have severely interrupted correspondence in the sector in the past month.

All collection, processing and delivery services are currently operating in all areas of the country, but there is still disruption following industrial action last week by the Communication Workers' Union (CWU).

And businesses are likely to be further disrupted by limited processing, movement and collection of ordinary mail on Thursday and Friday.

In a statement, the Royal Mail said: “While this is a further, serious development, national strike action is not inevitable and concentrated talks between Royal Mail and the CWU are continuing to take place.

“In the event national strikes do take place, mail services on strike days will be very limited and as a consequence, some delay to the collection, sorting, distribution and delivery of mail will be inevitable.”

It said it had “strong contingency plans” in the case of a prolonged strike and would continue to prioritise Special Delivery and Royal Mail Tracked mail on strike days.

It added: “We will be removing the Special Delivery guarantee for items posted on Thursday 22 and Friday 23 which would be due for delivery on Friday 23 and Saturday 24 respectively. We will restore the guarantee of delivery as soon as we can be sure of being able to honour the service promise. We expect to be able to do this by Monday 26.”

Business Link is helping businesses to understand how the postal strike could impact on them, and is offering practical advice on contingency planning.

The Business Link website has just launched a dedicated webpage with ideas on what businesses can do to mitigate any disruptions to their operations. Businesses are encouraged to check this webpage at www.businesslink.gov.uk/postalstrike for practical tips and links to other sources of useful information.

It advises contacting customers to let them know that their goods may be delayed; taking outgoing mail to a Post Office as it is more likely to be collected there than from a post box; sending post by Special Delivery or by courier; using alternative businesses to deliver items to customers; and paying bills online or at banks, building societies and Post Offices, as late payment may result in interest charges or penalties.

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