Stamp it to cancel it

Whether it’s the re-use of uncancelled stamps or the sale and use of stamps which have had cancellation marks removed, stamp fraud costs Royal Mail millions of pounds of lost revenue every year.

Our engineering and operations teams have been working hard to tackle the issue by improving how we cancel mail. We have introduced new cancellation inks on our machines as well as the red Trodat manual cancellation tools, which are indelible against all known removal techniques.

Teams at Greenford, Swindon, Tyneside, Glasgow, Dorset and Swansea have been undertaking testing of the new automation cancellation ink on our letter sorting machines. After positive engagement from operations to release machines together with fantastic levels of dedication from our site engineers, the ink has been deployed nationwide.

Alongside this work, our engineering colleagues have been receiving feedback from operational teams about improving the cancellation of mail that goes through sorting machines. Testing has been carried out at a number of sites to increase the level of machinable letter cancellation, and as a result, modifications are currently in progress on the Integrated Mail Processors (IMPs) to increase letter cancellation by 3%.

We are driving up cancellation rates for manual traffic through sampling all streams of mail daily and identifying areas for improvement. A bulk order of indelible ink for Trodat stampers was placed for all mail centres and delivered prior to peak pressure so that we’re up and running for the higher volume of stamped mail we’ll be processing.

Simon Barker, UK process operations director, said: ‘What our operational and engineering colleagues have delivered is undeniably a key factor of reducing opportunities for stamp fraud and I thank all the teams who brought about these changes.

‘The tools are in place to enable operations to focus on cancelling every stamp, this prevents fraud and ensures we are fairly paid for the hard work you all do to deliver a great service to our customers’.

As we approach our peak period, please ensure that you:

• Cancel stamps by using either a manual Trodat stamper or a pen stroke
• Ensure casual staff are aware to cancel any stamped items prior to sorting as this is a key area where stamps do not receive cancellation marks
• Utilise the stamp cancelling machines where feasible
• Refrain from using marker pens or standard banner ink pads (which have not had SP87 ink added).

For further information, please contact commercial project manager, Heather Middleton, from the stamp fraud reduction programme heather.middleton@royalmail.com.