The scheme, which was launched last month, works by awarding brands that apply with 2021 mailing credits for eligible mailing campaigns they undertake this year.

It is open for mailings of between 20,000 and 1m until 31 December, with resulting postage credits able to be used throughout 2021. It was originally capped at 20m items in total.

However, Royal Mail has already approved well over 100 applications and has, as a result, increased the cap to 120m items phased over 2020: 40m in May and June; 60m for July to September; and 20m items for October to December.

Judith Donovan, chair of the Strategic Mailing Partnership, who at launch described it as a “lifeline” for brands and organisations that have seen their revenues plummet as a result of the coronavirus crisis said she was “delighted with the scheme’s expansion.

“It is also excellent news for our members, who have had to draft in new ways of working to enable them to continue to provide their essential services. Hopefully, this increase in volume will enable mailing houses to benefit from an uplift in demand for marketing mail,” she added.

Royal Mail said it had phased the allocation to support “the changing nature of the Covid-19 situation in the UK” with regard to the easing of the lockdown, and it believed that the phased caps would allow different sectors to benefit from the scheme and still time their mailing campaigns for when they felt they would offer the biggest impact.

Separately, the postal operator has reinstated Saturday deliveries.

Royal Mail suspended Saturday letter deliveries at the start of May to ease pressure on postal system, however as of 13 June it restarted the service.