News that British postal operator Royal Mail and the postal workers’ union have come to a compromise has been welcomed by independent postal expert, Graham Cooper (pictured).

Cooper, MD of ONEPOST, said the deal with the Communication Workers Union (CWU) over the modernisation of the postal service, also bodes well for direct mailers: "The new deal is good news for the postal industry as a whole and those companies such as ourselves, borne out of the postal deregulation, to be able to offer clients alternative postal solutions.

"The strike action affected us all as without the Royal Mail we cannot deliver the final mile."

He added: “The UK postal industry needs Royal Mail to continue as a strong incumbent operator – without that the entire mailing industry is not sustainable. We will hopefully now see a return to Royal Mail meeting or indeed exceeding their Quality of Service targets which were severely hit by the industrial action of last year."

The compromise deal includes pay rises and working condition changes for staff as well as £2 billion of new automated machinery and equipment for delivery offices and mail centres.