With bulk mail down 50% Post says £180k licence is too much

GUERNSEY POST has criticised having to pay out £180,000 every year to the regulator.

The company reported a profit in its latest accounts but has warned of future threats, including a £16m. hit from the loss of companies involved in the fulfilment sector after the UK Government scrapped VAT relief for cheap goods shipped from the Channel Islands.

'Since commercialisation, the environment in which we operate has changed beyond all recognition and Guernsey Post is now under significant market pressure in the form of declining core mail volumes and the abolition of low value consignment relief,' said Guernsey Post chairman Dudley Jehan in the company's annual report.

'We accept that a degree of scrutiny is required for any business in a monopoly position, but we also believe that a level of confidence in our actions could be achieved without the current regulatory framework and more significantly, without the financial burden of an annual licence fee that currently stands at £180,000.'