July 2015 - The Software Bureau

A guide to charity direct mailing tax changes

By Mark Dobson|2017-01-12T14:48:23+00:00July 31st, 2015|

As we approach the end of July, the third sector will doubtless be praying for an end to what is commonly termed national media ‘silly season’, when outlets (notably the Daily Mail) declares open season on direct marketing. This year’s pot shots, primarily aimed at charities (aggressive telemarketing and Olive’s Law), rival what the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) coined the ‘Summer of Discontent’ experienced back in 2006 when the Daily Mail crusaded against addressed and unaddressed advertising mail. However, the charity sector isn’t out of the woods yet, for another hunter is waiting in the wings with its gun loaded and has its sights trained on 1st August to make its first shots. This hunter is the tax man. Since [...]

Onepost and The Software Bureau Join Forces

By Mark Dobson|2017-01-12T14:50:28+00:00July 17th, 2015|

The Software Bureau and ONEPOST have collaborated to bring ONEPOST customers and mailing houses a seamless Mailmark software solution. Mailmark is Royal Mail’s new barcode and optical technology for handling bulk mailings. It will replace its OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and CBC (customer barcoding) options. It is part of Royal Mail’s drive to modernise its processes. Mailmark will create more transparency in the mailing system enabling organisations to more easily integrate advertising mail into wider marketing campaigns. Moreover, in order to aid the transition to Mailmark Royal Mail has announced a further price differential from January 2016 which could be as high as five per cent. This will make 1st and 2nd class standard letters significantly cheaper for mailers than [...]