THE Royal Mail and its services in Kent are facing tough challenges as the New Year rolls in.

The deregulation of the postal market on January 1 places the national service in direct competition with 15 companies who can now offer rival delivery services.

In Kent, the newly licensed competitors will be vying for a share in the 1.7 billion items of post residents and businesses in the county send annually.

A spokesman for the Royal Mail said it welcomed the arrival of an open market as long as competition was fair.

A spokesman said: "We will fight for every letter, but to be able to do this we need a fair regulatory regime."

The Royal Mail is concerned by the lack of requirement on new postal providers to deliver a universal service – the daily delivery and collection of post to every address at affordable prices – which it must still fund and maintain, as well as the huge investment needed to match the equipment and technology of its new rivals.

Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier spoke out in November in criticism of postal regulator Postcomm’s restrictions on the Royal Mail.

Pricing caps and excessive efficiency targets, he said, produced the biggest threat yet to the continued provision of the one-price goes-anywhere universal service in the UK.

What it all means for business

As the open market for postal services arrives, Kent’s business community will be looking at the impact of competition, although many it seems are unaware of the changes.

Roger House of the Federation of Small Businesses said: "In principle we support any deregulation. We are entirely behind the measures as long as service and pricing does not suffer."

Robert Reid senior partner at Thompson Snell and Passmore said: "Law firms will not be greatly affected by the changes as they use email or an existing private service called DX. But other businesses may see the end of the Royal Mail monopoly as long overdue, provided competitors are better and cheaper."

Tom Nangle, general manager of Sittingbourne mailing company McDonald Mailing, had reservations: "In principle it’s a good thing. My concern is that we will end up dealing with multiple suppliers which could lead to confusion, error and lost profit margins."