University of South Wales

Estates and Facilities


Postal Services

Postal Services

Royal Mail
We use Royal Mail for all UK items which are individually 'franked’. Items will be sent 2nd class (delivery aim within 3 working days) unless specified 1st Class (delivery aim next working day).
Royal Mail also offers the following priority services:

Special Delivery: we recommend this service as the most reliable and cost-effective method of sending urgent or valuable UK letters and packages (under 2Kg), items are:

  • Tracked from the University and must be signed for by the recipient (tracking numbers are retained by the Post Room).
  • Kept in a secure area by Royal Mail.
  • Insured for £500 as standard (which can be raised to £2500 for an extra fee).
  • Guaranteed for next day delivery before 1pm as standard (or before 9am for an extra fee).
  • Saturday delivery is an option for an extra fee.

Recorded Delivery: this is a cheaper method of sending less valuable items that still offers tracking within the UK. Royal Mail treats these items as normal 1st/2nd class mail.

DHL
DHL is the best choice for any urgent or valuable overseas items and it can also be used for UK letters and parcels. Items are delivered quickly around the world, are fully tracked at all stages of their journey and have to be signed for at their destinations. Enhanced insurance can also be offered. DHL prices are dependent upon what you are sending, where you are sending it and the weight of the item, please contact us for a quote.

Airmail
We use DHL to send our normal Airmail. Airmail must be clearly marked in the top left corner. Please Note – The Republic of Ireland is classed as Airmail whereas Northern Irish addresses (which have a BT postcode) are classed as normal UK mail.

Post Prices
The Post Room will use the most economical method of sending mail to minimise the costs for postage which are held at departmental level.
Advice about cost reduction and pricing of specific mailings, including bulk mailing and priority delivery, can be obtained by contacting the Post Room directly on the number below.

1st or 2nd Class
The mail item must clearly state 1st or 2nd class and a budget code should be attached. These must be displayed either on the LEFT hand side of the envelope or on the back.
NB: Please note under no circumstances must any of the above be put on the RIGHT hand side of the envelope. Failure to adhere to this may result in your item being returned to your faculty/department.

Sending 2nd Class
If a letter arrives in the Mailroom with a budget code attached, but no 1st or 2nd class instructions, then it will automatically be sent 2nd class.

Special Priority Service
If you would like to send your item by Recorded Delivery, Special Delivery 9am or 1pm or by any of the overseas priority services, these must be either stamped with an appropriate stamp, or the details of the service you require hand written on the LEFT hand side of the envelope or on the back of the envelope. Failure to do this may result in your item missing the required service or being returned to your faculty/department.

No Faculty/Department Budget Code/Identification
If an item comes in to the Post Room without a budget code or identification (including bulk mail) then the item will be opened to determine the sender, and may be returned via the Post Room to that individual or their Faculty/Department for resending. This will result in a delay in sending your mail, so please make sure all items to be posted have a budget code on them where required.

Bulk Mailing
Contact the Post Room in the first instance who will be able to supply you with mailbags. For external mail please ensure that all letters have a budget code and are prepared as outlined below. Please also ensure that 1st and 2nd class mail, and also international and inland mail is kept separate.
Please inform the Post Room of your desired collection day in advance, this will ensure that an early pick up can be arranged to enable franking and sorting to be done within the same working day.
When sending bulk mailings, please ensure that the items are prepared as follows:

  • First and second class items are separated.
  • All items are the same way up and the same way round (face up).
  • Items should be bundled in equal numbers (where possible) and the number of items in each bundle indicated.
  • Please also keep EU, Rest of Europe and Rest of World destinations in separate bundles.

Service Availability
The Post Room is open from:
7:30am – 17:00pm Monday to Thursday
7:30am – 16:30pm Fridays

Contact:
Email: Louise Poole
Telephone: Ext 82026
Email: Andrew Crocker
Telephone : Ext 54083

Essentials

  • Always using packaging, envelopes or cartons appropriate to the contents bearing in mind, weight (for cost purposes) and suitability for 'rough’ handling protection. For example, nobody can read 'Fragile’ once an item is inside a sack, a heavy sack of variously sized and shaped mail will not respect a 'Please do not bend’ instruction and automated sorting machines may tear to shreds items with loose edges, exposed staples and inadequate strength envelopes.
  • A rule of thumb for larger items is that you should use the equivalent of the manufacturer’s original shipping packaging when you post similar items.
  • Post with PPI labels attached should never be posted in letter boxes – Royal Mail will treat this as fraud. PPI items are only valid mail if they have been counted, categorised and weighed in advance and registered on their servers as a fully documented mailing in advance of their collection from us.
  • Remember that Royal Mail have a delivery time expectations for 1st and 2nd class items as mentioned above, however, these are not delivery time guarantees.
  • Please ensure you include a postcode in the address. If you are unsure of the postcode, you can use the Royal Mail Postcode Finder.
  • There should always be some method of identifying where to return items in the event that this should be required. Therefore try to remember, where appropriate, to send items out with a return address. Be careful where you put the return address, the Royal Mail envelope specification will help. Where possible, put it on the back at the top-middle and keep it small however if it has to go on the front then put it on the top-left.
  • Do not use ordinary 1st, 2nd, 48hr, 24hr or airmail services to send any item that is irreplaceable, has a deadline or has intrinsic value.
  • See our UK Mail Size Guide for determining which category your items belong to before choosing which PPI to affix to them.