More mailing activity by the government and utilities helped increase direct mail volume and expenditures in the United Kingdom during the third quarter, according to statistics released yesterday by the Direct Mail Information Service, London.
The July-September data reveal that 1.3 billion items were sent in the quarter, up 1.4 percent over last year. Consumer direct mail volume increased 1.3 percent to 1 billion items while business-to-business volume rose 1.8 percent to 280.6 million items.
Growth sectors included government (with volume up 32 percent over last year), education (up 15.4 percent) and utilities (up 11.6 percent). The retail and home shopping sectors saw increases of 7.5 percent and 8.9 percent, respectively.
However, financial services companies — by far the biggest mailers — reined in activity, with volume down 10.1 percent from last year. Financial services still accounted for 31 percent of mail volume in the quarter.
In other findings, the volume of direct mail received by women rose 2.3 percent while direct mail to men fell 0.2 percent. Mail received by both the 45-54 and 55-64 age groups increased 9.2 percent.
