INDUSTRY / NEWS The Printing Charity has opened ticket sales for its Annual Luncheon event, offering print industry members the chance to network and reunite ahead of the Christmas period. This year’s event, the 196th Annual Luncheon hosted by the charity, will take place at Plaisterers’ Hall in central London on November 13th. The move to a new, larger venue at the very centre of the City of London, is designed to provide more people with the chance to attend the event and spend time in the company of the print community. This year’s keynote speaker is former prime minister, Theresa May, the Printing Charity’s 2025 President. May, who was elected to the role in February 2025, is the second woman to hold the position for The Printing Charity since its name change in 2010, following fellow conservative, Nicky Morgan, in 2024. Major changes to the Universal Postal Service (UPS) in the UK have come into legal effect as of July 28th. Under the reforms of the Universal Service Obligation (USO), which were refined through a detailed consultation process, Royal Mail will continue to provide a six-day-a-week service for First Class letters, but SecondClass letters will now be delivered over three alternate weekdays instead of six. Saturday deliveries will no longer apply to this category, while parcels will reportedly remain unaffected by these changes. Royal Mail’s quality of service targets are also being reset following the changes. First class on-time delivery targets will drop from 93% to 90%, and Second Class from 98.5% to 95%. A new "tail of mail" target has also been introduced meaning 99% of First Class letters must now arrive within three days, and Second Class within five days. A number of industry professionals within the mail and communications industries have responded to the reforms since they have come into legal effect. Among these is Mark Statton, head of public sector strategy at mail and shipping solutions provider, Quadient, who says: "The recent USO reform and reduction in second-class postal deliveries underscores a significant shift in the traditional mail model. “Organisations that rely exclusively on physical mail must explore blended communications to avoid delays in customer engagement, missed SLAs, and potential regulatory risks. At Quadient, we’re seeing more SMEs and local authorities adopt blended communication strategies to ensure messages reliably reach their intended recipients.” At the time of the announcement of the reforms, The Strategic Mailing Partnership (SMP), came out in support of the changes. Lucy Swanston, chair of the SMP, said: “As an industry, Ofcom’s announcement represents the most significant change to the Universal Service in decades. We hope the changes announced will help Royal Mail better protect the one-price-goes-anywhere service that our customers value, and support the delivery of a more reliable, efficient, and financially sustainable postal service.” The new quality targets will be enforced by Ofcom from April 1st, 2026, with the organisation closely monitoring Royal Mail’s implementation progress in the preceding period. Ofcom is also aiming for consistent communication with the industry throughout this period, including the creation of a stakeholder forum to share updates and gather feedback. According to Royal Mail, parcel services are not affected by the changes Ticket sales opened for Printing Charity Luncheon A UK-based printing company which created a unique model for online creators to publish books is celebrating three years in business. Found’s modus operandi is to take the content posted online by influencers with large followings and monetise it by turning it into professional quality books. The Found model works on the basis of print-on-demand, with creators’ only commitment to promote their book via their channels. Found has so far signed up a range of creators across the UK and USA, many of whom have hundreds of thousands of followers across their channels and with videos that have been viewed millions of times. Since its launch, Found is reported to have sold more than 270,000 books with 345 different titles, earning some of the creators’ life changing amounts of money. Among the most successful is US-based Luke Brown, aka cookinginthemidwest, who has 1.7 million followers on Instagram and who has sold more than 31,000 copies of his first book. Industry responds to major Royal Mail reforms Success for independent UK publisher Those wishing to attend the drinks can book tickets via The Printing Charity website Found takes the content posted by influencers and converts it into books 9 email: editor@printmonthly.co.uk September / October 2025 - Issue 356 By Jonathan Pert By Jonathan Pert By Jonathan Pert
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