Glossary

Peeking Envelope

  • A range – paper sizes

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  • Access

    The agreement produced by Royal Mail which allows access to its network for part of its journey at a fixed price per item.  Also known as ‘Downstream Access’.

  • Advertising Mail

    A Royal Mail Wholesale (RMW) service that provides customers with the opportunity to benefit from lower prices.  Click here for full details.

  • Bereavement Register

    The Bereavement Register is information captured by The Data Agency from a scheme that distributes booklets with tear-off cards from key locations. All cards are then validated against a UK residents database. The file comprises 4.5 million names and is updated weekly.

  • BFPO

    British Forces Post Office

  • BRE

    Business Reply Envelope, a phrase used to describe an envelope with the sender’s address pre-printed, which is included in a mailing.

  • C range – envelope sizes

    C8  81x57mm

    C7  114x81mm

    C6  162x114mm

    C5  229x162mm

    C4  324x229mm

  • Carrier sheet

    Carrier is the term for any piece of paper or printed material which is used to ‘carry’ the address of the recipient. The address on the carrier sheet will normally show through a window or clear polythene.

  • CBC (Customer Bar Code)

    When your mail is addressed using a barcode containing the address of each item

  • Cold list

    A list of prospects who have not yet purchased.

  • Data Protection Act

    An Act of Parliamnet which protects the rights of the consumer in respect of personal information held about him/her.

  • Delivery Point Suffix (DPS)

    A two character code that identifies each address that can receive mail.  Combined with the postcode it is a unique identifier for a letterbox.

  • Direct selection

    A group of postcode districts (or sectors) for sorted mail (High Sort only). It allows the bags or trays or bundles of mail to be despatched directly to a local area Delivery Office, rather than be sorted at a mail centre.

  • DL envelope

    220mm wide x 110mm high – fits an A4 sheet of paper folded into thirds.

  • Downstream access

    The agreement produced by Royal Mail which allows access to its network for part of its journey at a fixed price per item.

  • Duplex

    Printed on both sides of the page.

  • E2E (End to End)

    A service whereby mail is collected from a producer and is distributed and delivered by a single postal operator

  • Economy

    For sorted products only – delivery aim is within 4 working days after posting

  • Enclosing

    Process of inserting one or more items into an envelope. Can be done by machine or by hand (depending on contents)

  • Final mile

    A term used to describe the delivery of the mail from the last mail centre

  • First class

    Royal Mail service to deliver mail the next working day (Monday to Saturday)

  • Flat

    A Flat (G) is: 

    • Length minimum 245mm, maximum 381mm

    • Width minimum 165mm, maximum 305mm

    • < 20mm thick

    • Maximum 500g

  • Franking

    The application of a postal indicia by printing through a specially designed machine.

  • GoneAway Suppression (GAS)

    GAS was established in 1992 to address the problem of mailing people who had genuinely moved house. It contains data from the electoral roll as well as a number of active major syndicated customer databases. There are approximately 40 million addresses on the file, which is updated quarterly.

  • High Sort

    You can earn savings by sorting your mail and ensuring your addresses are accurate. You must provide a minimum of 4,000 letters or 1,000 large letters in a single mailing.

    • Sort up to 1,525 Direct Selections or 88 Residue Selections as detailed in the Royal Mail Selection Files
    • Ensure that 90% of your mail has postcode and address accuracy
    • You must have a minimum of 50 letters or 10 large letters for a Direct Selection.

  • Hybrid Mail

    Describes a process whereby mail is transmitted electronically to a print site, where it is then mailed.

  • IMC (Inward Mail Centre)

    Royal Mail’s inward main delivery offices around the UK

  • Inkjet printing

    A method of printing – a jet of very fine droplets of ink are squirted onto paper or polythene.

  • Large letter

    353x250mm maximum size

    25mm maximum thickness

    750g maximum weight

    Large Letter classification updated April 2014 (PDF)

  • Laser printing

    A high quality method of printing.

  • Letter

    240x165mm maximum size

    5mm maximum thickness

    100g maximum weight

  • Liberalisation

    The opening of the mail market to competition

  • Low sort

    You can earn savings by sorting your mail and ensuring your addresses are accurate. You must provide a minimum of 4,000 letters or 1,000 large l