Sustainable Mail « veridata

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20gms of CO2 are generated by a piece of direct mail

Thursday, November 10th, 2011

‘Junk’ Mail aka Direct Mail

There is a more effective way of dealing with these items, put them back in the letter box marked RETURN TO SENDER. For 16 years we, (www.veri-data.co.uk ) have been processing returned and undelivered mail for financial services and others. For each company we open and scan the relevant information required and return it to them on a weekly basis so that they can supress their databases, so they do not mail that person/address again.

We then recycle all the waste paper, for 80% of the carbon footprint of a direct mail piece is in the end of life solution. Our service also helps to reduce the opportunity for identity fraud and protects the brand image by not ‘irritating’ people by sending them material they do not want. Sadly not all mailers use a service like ours and in many large companies and charities there is a reluctance to engage with this matter. Nobody wants responsibility for what is perceived as irksome problem, notwithstanding it can save them money and cut their carbon footprint. (20gms of CO2 are generated by a piece of direct mail)

Like it or not Direct Mail works and a great many people are stimulated to buy, even if it only drives them to a web site. I also wonder how many people who complain about this issue would actually miss it. For as Auden noted, ‘And none will hear the postman’s knock Without a quickening of the heart. For who can bear to feel himself forgot.’ or am I the only one who feels slightly miffed when the postman passes by and there is no mail?

NB Companies that dropped direct mail in 2009 are going back because they saw a drop in orders of up to 25% Wall Street Journal article 2011

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, 'gone aways', Carbon Footprint, Catalogues, Charities, Direct Mail, Identity Fraud, Postal returns, Recycling paper, Sustainable Mail, Totalpost PLC | No Comments »

CodEffect™ Returned Letter Data Capture – What is it?

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

CodEffect - pronounced Code Effect – is a data capture system designed specifically for returned or gone-away letters. CodEffect includes full name and address information, plus it enables mailing customers to include large amounts of their own data in the barcode.

CodEffect was originally designed to perfectly capture name and address information and to reduce the capture cost. However, when customers began adding their own data into the encoded barcode, this additional information became a great way to streamline many back office functions. For example, some applications our customers use CodEffect on include updating customer databases, validating the postal addresses, segmenting documents based on their commercial value and speeding up the process of collecting survey information.

Veridata is a division of Totalpostplc www.totalpost.com

Tesco Clubcard was the first customer. The CodEffect process reduced Tesco’s cost of capturing returned letter data by 50% – read the Case study. Look in the window of your next Clubcard envelop and you will see two little square boxes, they are the CodEffect barcodes. Since its beginning, CodEffect has continued to grow and develop. The software now has features for letters, packets and parcels, encryption, automated data feeds into accounting, database and document management systems.

In 2008, CodEffect was shortlisted at the World Mail Awards – the Oscars of the postal industry – in the Technology category.

Veridata gone away and returned mail handling are licensed by Arbutus Ridge as users of CodEffect. We thoroughly recommend this bar code it can save considerable amount of money and provide valuable marketing information.

We recycle all waste paper that results from processing, which helps to lower your carbon footprint. 80% of the carbon footprint of a returned mail piece is in the end of life solution

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, 'gone aways', Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme, Catalogues, DMA, Direct Mail, PAS2020, Postal returns, Returned and Undelivered Mail, Royal Mail, Sustainable Mail, TNT Post | No Comments »

Experian QAS and REaD UK Partnership Helps Marketeers Track Changes In Customer Data

Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

29 March 2011 -

Experian QAS has partnered with Data Asset Management specialist, REaD UK, to improve the ease with which organisations keep note of house moves and deceased contacts. REaD UKs data suppression files are now available through Experian QASs desktop software, enabling marketers to improve the quality of the data used for marketing campaigns, while improving ROI and customer perception.

Both the Bereavement Register (TBR), the consumer service that helps stop direct mail being sent to the deceased, and the Gone Away Suppression (GAS) File, which tackles mailing customers who have moved house, can now be accessed through Experians software tool, QAS Batch with Suppression. The software can be operated from the desktop and will clean and standardise data and flag records that appear on REaDs data files. It can also be integrated into an organisations systems to constantly track deceased and gone away contacts in real-time.

Joel Curry, UK Managing Director of Experian QAS, said: As customer data is constantly changing, our clients have been challenging us to develop new ways to enable them to improve data quality quickly and easily without the need for heavy IT involvement or outsourcing. Experian has a broad range of data suppression files to allow the most cost effective tracking of house movers, deceased contacts and registrations to preference services. The new partnership further extends our data coverage and means that we can now also offer REaD UK suppression data via desktop software.

Richard Anderson, Sales Director at REaD UK, said: We have seen a rise in the demand for suppression data as consumers become less tolerant of organisations that persistently send communications to their old address or deceased relatives. The Bereavement Register and Gone-Away Suppression File (GAS) are now used by 70% and 59% respectively of all major UK direct mailers but there is more opportunity for organisations of all scales and sizes to improve their data quality as it impacts heavily on every aspect of customer engagement. We are looking forward to working with Experian QAS to enable more widespread access to our suppression data.

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Posted in 'Gone away' mail, 'gone aways', DMA, Direct Mail, PAS2020, Postal returns, Returned and Undelivered Mail, Sustainable Mail | No Comments »

Royal Mail could put up postage on direct mail by up to 19%

Tuesday, March 1st, 2011

This is not good news as the non-transactional direct mail sector is already struggling and it will probably mean that the private courier sector will follow suite and hike their prices. However there are ways to reduce the costs of direct mail.

We include catalogues in this context.

Most direct marketers would agree that embracing best environmental practice is a sensible idea. There are rewards for doing so but whether you agree that PAS2020 an onerous standard or a good discipline, the potential for reduced costs, reduced waste and increased campaign performance makes good business sense.

There also the benefit of Royal Mail’s ‘Sustainable Mail’, which offers postal services at a discounted rate if a company is proved to be compliant with PAS 2020. This can save mailers up to 4.7 percent off the standard mail tariff.

As a company dedicated to processing returned and gone way mail since 1996 we have to declare an interest in hoping that volumes of direct mail do not decline too quickly. In our part we have reduced the returns/’gone aways’ of one our larger customers (at their peak mailing 140 million pieces a year) from over 6% to under 2% saving them thousands of pounds.

Our aim is to minimise waste and thereby cut cost, by removing unnecessary volume, and by ensuring the ‘end of life’ solution where 80% of the carbon footprint occurs is addressed responsibly. We recycle all waste paper. It can also provide brand protection and reduce the opportunity for fraud – overlaying information from returns can identify hot spots/addresses and help to mitigate identity theft.

Taking care of your returns also offers a safety net from consumer backlash, because despite the economic times, consumers and the media are still being tough on brands that do business while ignoring the environmental impact.

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, 'gone aways', Carbon Footprint, Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme, Catalogues, Charities, DMA, Direct Mail, PAS2020, Postal returns, Recycling paper, Royal Mail, Sustainable Mail, TNT Post | No Comments »

Bringing down the cost of gone away mail

Wednesday, January 26th, 2011

Save up to 50% on your returned and ‘gone way’ mail/catalogues

In partnership with Arbutus Ridge we process their CodEffect 2d barcode, a powerful method of encoding large amounts of data. Successfully used by many organisations including HMRC and Tesco, the latter in the first six months that they have been using it have seen a 50% reduction in its operational costs for returned mail.

It attracts a lower charge rate to capture than standard alpha/numeric data and we can return the data files on a daily basis if required.

Veridata now offers this encrypted 2d bar-coding system which means that capture of name & address, campaign codes etc. is considerably cheaper and enables us to offer our customers great savings for processing their returned mail.

CodEffect capture solution offer a fixed charge, regardless of the amount of data captured. There is no charge for the software or the creation of the barcode.

The CodEffect service has two distinct elements – simple data capture from returns and

data verification & enhancement. If required it can explain the reason for returns by

running them against a number of industry wide data sets.

The discreet two-dimensional barcode can be set in various places in or outside the envelope

Also included in the cost is the destruction and responsible disposal of all waste paper, which is recycled locally; this helps reduce your carbon footprint. Our service also helps you to comply with EU Directives on Landfill PAS2020 and Royal Mail’s Sustainable Mail.

Technical Requirements

Veridata in partnership with Arbutus Ridge will provide all software required to manage the printing of the CodEffect 2d barcodes free of charge and will work alongside the Client and chosen print company to install and test the process. Full technical requirements will be produced on agreement of contract.

Supplied as Windows DLL’s, which you can integrate using Visual Basic

For further information please contact

Tim Craig Business Development Director

Tel:01925 242360 email: tim.craig@veri-data.co.uk

PS As part o our service we destroy and recycle all paper helping to lower your carbon footprint

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, Carbon Footprint, Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme, Catalogues, Charities, CodEffect 2d bar code, DMA, Direct Mail, Environmental responsibility, PAS2020, Recycling paper, Sustainable Mail, Totalpost PLC | No Comments »

Totalpost plc Managing Director David Hymers received his MBE at Buckingham Palace from Her Majesty the Queen 8th December 2010

Thursday, December 9th, 2010

8^th December 2010 at the Buckingham Palace

Congratulations from Tim & Kirsty Craig at Veridata

David Hymers has been awarded an MBE for “services to Industry and International Trade” in the 2010 Queen’s Birthday Honours List. David is Chairman & Managing Director of Totalpost Services Plc, a well respected privately owned independent market leader specialising in mailroom solutions to Companies in over 18 countries around the world. The award recognises David’s hard work and commitment in the field of business, & for working with Business Link in the North and also with the management & Vice Chairmanship of an Export Club for Cumbria via UK Trade & Investment.

A surprised, delighted and humbled David said “Whilst I have received the award, I feel it is a testimony to all the employees at Totalpost as I know that without such a great team, we would not be doing so well, so each and every one of the team – in UK/Europe and USA – deserves a share in this recognition and I said so in my acceptance call to Her Majesties representative.”

A spokesperson for Totalpost said “We are delighted for David; the award of MBE is extremely well deserved. David has made a significant contribution to Business and to International Trade and the wider community and he has developed Totalpost Services Plc to ensure it is a substantial force in the mailroom market.”

People whose names are published in The Queen’s Birthday Honours and New Year Honours lists usually receive their award from The Queen at an Investiture in Buckingham Palace. There are usually 20 Investitures held in the Ballroom at the Palace each year. Up to 150 recipients attend each ceremony, and each recipient can nominate three friends or relations to sit in the audience to witness the occasion. The Queen enters the room attended by two Gurkha Orderly Officers, a tradition begun by Queen Victoria in 1876. Also on duty are members of The Queen’s Body Guard of the Yeomen of the Guard, which was created by Henry VII in 1485.

Veridata returned & ‘gone away’ mail handling … a Totalpost Services plc company

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, 'gone aways', Business Link, Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme, Catalogues, DMA, Direct Mail, PAS2020, Postal returns, Queen's Birthday Honours, Royal Mail, Sustainable Mail, TNT Post, Totalpost PLC | No Comments »

Veridata Returned Mail handling is an operating division of Totalpost Services Plc

Monday, October 11th, 2010

Veridata Returned Mail handling is delighted to announce that it has recently become an operating division of Totalpost Services Plc (Totalpost). The formation of this alliance is a natural progression for Veridata, enabling the company to develop its returned and “gone away” mail data capture services for all current and future contracts. David Hymers, Chief Executive of Totalpost Services Plc, said “this is a very exciting growth area for both Veridata and ourselves in this business structure, and will offer new services to our existing clients and new businesses, and also help to develop the services of Veridata’s existing clients who may well benefit from the other mailroom services and contracts that we already offer”.

Veridata has closed its facility in Chester and will now operate from the highly secure Warrington facility of Totalpost where it will continue to provide its closed loop solution for returned and undelivered mail under the group ownership of Totalpost. Its commitment to the environment remains as constant as always with the continued secure and safe destruction of all waste paper, which is recycled and contributes to cutting the carbon footprint of Veridata’s clients. Returned, unwanted and undelivered mail produces vast amounts of waste paper and 80% of the carbon footprint for direct mail pieces lies in the ‘end of life’ solution.

Veridata have been setting the standards in returned mail management since 1996, and in conjunction with Totalpost Services Plc will continue to develop bespoke solutions for its proven, specialist, automated and quick turn around service for processing this sort of mail from anywhere in the UK.

With recent changes in the World of direct mail, increasing attention is being focussed on returned and gone-away mail and its impact on the environment. For companies that send out large quantities of mail there is a ‘producer responsibility’ for the ‘end of life’ solution for their undelivered and

returned mail and Corporate social responsibility. The Veridata division of Totalpost Services has the complete solution.

End.

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, 'gone aways', Carbon Footprint, CodEffect 2d bar code, DMA, Direct Mail, PAS2020, Returned and Undelivered Mail, Sustainable Mail, TNT Post | No Comments »

Are Direct Mail Businesses Thinking About Green Issues Enough?

Tuesday, September 28th, 2010

Veridata is trying to educate the Direct Mail industry about the benefits of processing their returned and undelivered mail. For 14 years we have been processing the the returns to MBNA who enlightened and well a head of their time have been ensuring that their returns have been and are handled responsibly.

Too many companies that send out large quantities of mail/catalogues do not address this issue of corporate social producer responsibility for the ‘end of life’ solution for their undelivered and returned mail.

A contributor to CO2 waste in the UK is, Returned, unwanted and undelivered mail its produces vast amounts of waste paper and 80% of the carbon footprint for a piece of mail is in the ‘end of life’ solution. The DMA’s BSI Standard PAS2020, the Royal Mail’s Sustainable Mail, TNT’s Greenpost and the new EU directives on landfill are going some way to address the issue of ‘producer responsibility’ that all waste paper generated is disposed of acceptably.

Veridata provides a specialist and automated quick turn around service for processing Returned and Undelivered Mail.

It saves money not mailing the same customers again, helps mitigate the opportunities for identity fraud and it is friendly to the environment as all waste is recycled thus reducing carbon footprint.

See article by

Are British Businesses Thinking About Green Issues Enough?

Written by Ben Thornhill

Friday, 16 July 2010 13:27

http://www.tchc.net/blog/38-business-operations/226-are-british-businesses-thinking-enough-about-green-issues

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, 'Green Tax', 'gone aways', Banking, Carbon Footprint, Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme, DMA, Direct Mail, Identity Fraud, PAS2020, Recycling paper, Returned and Undelivered Mail, Royal Mail, Sustainable Mail, TNT Post | No Comments »

TNT Post Introduces Admail For Promotional Direct Mail

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

TNT Post Introduces Admail For Promotional Direct Mail
20 August 2010 – Isobel Spaven-Donn

TNT Post has launched a new service, adMail, to help increase the return on investment for marketers of promotional direct mail. The bespoke product is a reduced cost service that has been specifically designed for promotional direct mail which drives sales or encourages support for a cause.

In addition to increasing a mailing’s return on investment, adMail also aims to promote best practice in data management; customers using the adMail service will commit to diligent data processes through suppression of customer and prospect data against consumer and business data files, such as the Mail Preference Service

For assistance with data cleansing, businesses can utilise TNT Post’s dataMatters service – a suite of data products designed to help organisations improve the accuracy of data used for direct mailings, in order to achieve optimum marketing efficiency, return on investment and audience impact. When married with TNT Post’s greenPost service, which looks at responsible, recyclable resourcing, clients can also reduce the environmental impact of the mailing.

adMail is available for delivery in a five working day delivery window and is for customers sending upwards of 4000 items a day, or at least 10,000 items a day for Access 700 CBC customers.

Nick Wells, chief executive of TNT Post UK, comments: “adMail offers the direct mail sector a new, cost-effective and efficient service that meets the needs of marketers in the current economic climate. By introducing a reduced cost service for promotional direct mailings, we aim to provide real value to customer.”

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Carbon footprint – if you are sending out large amounts of mail/catalogues in the UK/Europe - You should be aware that 80% of carbon footprint of mail is in the returned piece. Solution? VERIDATA

Posted in 'Gone away' mail, 'Green Tax', Carbon Footprint, Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme, Catalogues, DMA, Direct Mail, Environmental responsibility, PAS2020, Returned and Undelivered Mail, Sustainable Mail | No Comments »

Direct Mail/ Catalogues Save up to 50% on your returned and ‘gone way’ mail

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

In partnership with Arbutus Ridge we process their CodEffect 2d barcode, a powerful method of encoding large amounts of data. Successfully used by many organisations including HMRC and Tesco, reults for the latter in the first six months – a 50% reduction in its operational costs for returned mail.