How Brexit affects your next franking machine contract

This article was originally published during the period of uncertainty around Britain’s exit from the European Union. It reflects the questions business owners were asking at the time.

Brexit created uncertainty for British businesses trying to understand how their trade with EU customers might change.

There were also questions about suppliers, equipment and the long contracts businesses relied on to keep everyday operations moving.

For organisations approaching the end of a franking machine contract, that uncertainty made signing another lengthy lease feel like a much bigger decision.

At the time, we regularly heard from businesses reaching the end of their latest franking machine lease.

Their concern was simple. Did it make sense to sign another six-year contract for equipment they were not certain they would still need in the years ahead?

A franking machine contract can commit a business to equipment hire, servicing and an established way of working for several years.

That can feel risky when postage rates, working arrangements and the way a business sends letters are already changing.

Before renewing, business owners should look beyond the headline postage rate and consider the full cost of printing, folding, stuffing, franking and posting business mail.

With Neopost, one of the UK’s largest franking machine manufacturers, headquartered in France, many businesses wanted to know how that relationship could change under a no-deal Brexit.

Questions about future servicing, equipment supply and commercial relationships added another layer of uncertainty to an already lengthy commitment.

No business owner wants to spend six years paying for a machine that no longer suits the way their company works.

Brexit brought the issue into focus, but the wider question applies whenever a franking lease comes up for renewal: does the business still need to own or rent the equipment used to prepare its post?

As businesses considered their next steps, Postworks offered a practical alternative to lengthy franking machine contracts and equipment leases.

Postworks Send is a hybrid mail service that lets businesses send letters online without printing, folding, stuffing or franking them in the office.

Documents are uploaded through the online platform. Postworks then handles the printing, preparation and postage.

This gives business owners a way to manage important business post without taking on another machine or building the process around a long equipment contract.

Brexit was the immediate concern when this article was first written. The broader point still applies whenever a lease ends. It is worth checking whether another franking machine is really the best fit, or whether sending letters online would give the business more flexibility.