News UK Direct to Retail (DTR) has announced a 3 per cent carriage charge rise for nearly 6,000 stores it supplies within the M25, stated a recent report, implying that stores within the range will have to pay an extra £24 per year to receive The Sun and The Times.
As per recent reports, the rise will be split in two installments in order to reduce the impact on stores. From 24 January 2022, daily charges will rise 1.5 per cent from £2.20 to £2.23, then from 5 July 2022, the remaining 1.5 per cent increase will be added, taking the daily charge to £2.27.
News UK has justified the raise by claiming that it was long due and they decided to freeze carriage charges throughout 2021 “to support retailers during the fall out from the global coronavirus pandemic”. It has also added in a communication to the retailers that the rise is below the current rate of inflation and the publisher has taken extreme steps to keep the rise to bare minimum.
NFRN London district president Hetal Patel as called the News DTR’s announcement as “double whammy” for independent shops as it is coinciding with the return of government work from home guidance – a measure expected to harm sales in central London stores, reports said..
A store owner from Essex told Better Retailing how he will now be paying £24 per year extra to receive The Sun & Times.
“A lot of stores will be looking at their current sales of News UK titles, the cost of getting those titles and making a decision about whether it’s worth it,” the store owner told the outlet.
“We understand News UK’s costs are rising, but it’s important they listen to retailer concerns because their situation gets much worse with every store that decides its no longer viable to maintain a newspaper section.”
