Small businesses are today adding to the pressure on the Government over the sale of a stake in Royal Mail, with nearly half saying that they want the postal group to remain in public ownership.

In a survey of more than 5,000 of its members by the Federation of Small Businesses, some 48 per cent said they wanted Royal Mail to continue to be publicly owned. However, 27 per cent said they would support a part-privatisation if it meant that further post office closures could be prevented.

The Government will tomorrow set out plans for an overhaul of Royal Mail, including selling a stake to a rival operator. But it has pledged that the post office network will remain in public ownership because the network continues to need subsidy support. The plans to sell a minority stake have provoked a strong backlash from unions and Labour backbenchers.

The FSB said that small companies and traders cannot afford the loss of any more post offices, with 80 per cent depending on them for mail and other business services.

Royal Mail has just completed a closure programme of 2,500 branches, which has hit the small business sector, the FSB said. Nearly 20 per cent of its members said that they now had to queue for longer in post offices and 17 per cent said they had to travel further to find one.

Clive Davenport, chairman of the FSB’s trade and industry group, said: “We have already seen more than 2,500 post offices closed over the past year – any more closures will have an even more damaging effect on small businesses that use its services daily. Yet the current system is not operating efficiently, which is leaving small businesses wasting valuable time travelling to another post office or waiting in queues.”

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