If all UK MPs were to adopt hybrid mail for their constituency postal correspondence, up to £500,000 could be saved from their costs each year.

According to a new study carried out by document management company CFH, reported on the website PostandParcel, more than £250,000 could be saved each year in postage costs alone if hybrid mail was used.  If the costs of headed paper, envelopes and administrative time are added in, the resulting savings become substantial, CFH said.

Dave Broadway, managing director of CFH, said: “MPs find themselves in a dilemma. We all know that they are under constant pressure to reduce their costs. Yet they also need to maintain regular communication with their constituents.

“We have examined the postal expenses of all 635 MPs and we are certain there are significant savings that can be made without jeopardising constituency relationships. In fact, we would suggest that there is the opportunity for MPs to communicate more and spend less.”

While a first class stamp for a normal letter costs 39 pence, the overall cost of posting a letter also needs to include sundries such as paper and envelope, printer cartridge, and of course administrative time. With a hybrid mail service, the starting price of 25p (plus UK Value Added Tax at 17.5 per cent) includes all stationery, printing, enclosing, and delivering.

Hybrid mail is a broad category of messaging where physical post is sent as an electronic document to a printing location near its destination, only traveling in physical form for a small part of the journey.

Because the printing, mechanical sorting and shipping is redirected to a service provider, hybrid mail can reduce corporate communication costs and be more environmentally friendly than traditional mail.