InPost Newstrade – formerly Menzies Distribution – is making some changes to its carriage charge model following discussions with the Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed).
In a letter to its UK customers, which the Fed says was being sent yesterday (Monday, February 10), the news wholesaler has announced that it is to decrease the base charge to support retailers with lower sales.
For all other customers, the increase - which takes effect from April 5 - is being capped at £4.99 per store a week. In the Republic of Ireland, carriage charges are being frozen.
Commenting, the Fed’s National President Mo Razzaq said: “The Fed has been in discussion with InPost Newtrade about the difficulties our members are facing in such challenging financial times.
“The fact that the news wholesaler has listened – and more importantly – has acted on our members’ concerns is positive and we are pleased to see it taking steps to protect smaller news stores.
“That said, the Fed still does not support the carriage charge model, and we will continue to press for an alternative. We want our supply chain partners to get round the table to explore better ways of operating that mean publishers and wholesalers are not piling on more costs on hard-pressed retailers who can ill afford to pay them.”
In the letter to its customers, In Post Newstrade managing director Grant Jordan said: “Each year we review our Carriage Service Charge (CSC) template, which we use to recover a proportion of our costs. In 2025, we have taken the decision to decrease the base charge, actively supporting stores with lower sales within the category. We are also introducing a mechanism to make CSC more proportionate to category sales by adjusting the newspaper and magazine percentage sale contributions.
“We remain committed to working alongside our partners to support the long-term sustainability of the newspaper and magazine category, with service excellence and customer satisfaction always remaining our priority.”
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