The changes come on the back of Ofcom’s decision to give Royal Mail the freedom to set its own prices.

However, the lasting effect on direct mail and magazine printers remains to be seen, with a raft of new pricing structures and product lines set for introduction.

Packet mailings will increase considerably to a flat rate of £2.19 for any item up to 750g, a move the BPIF claim will increase the costs to print businesses by up to 50%.

Royal Mail has also introduced three new product categories, Advertising Mail, Publishing Mail and Business Mail.

Advertising Mail, designed for firms promoting products or services, will undergo an increase of between 3%-4%.

Publishing Mail, currently known as Press Stream, will enable customers to migrate from First and Second Class mailing options to a ‘Level 4 sort’ that extends delivery time by a day, but offers a 3% discount.

Customers using Business Mail will be exempt from the Advertising Standard Board of Finance levy, formerly £2 payable per 1,000 items, as the category is no longer classified as advertising-led.

In addition, the Mailsort 1400 category becomes High Sort, which sorts mail to the delivery office level while Mailsort 70 becomes Low Sort, for delivery to mail centres.

Kathy Woodward, chief executive of the BPIF, said that the price increases will inevitably have an "adverse impact" on the volume of printing and postal services.

"Even where they are able to persuade their customers to stick with print for their campaigns, our members may well opt to switch to other carriers for their distribution channels," she added.

Mike Lordan, chief of operations for the DMA, echoed Woodward and said he was "disappointed" with Ofcom’s decision.

"We’re grateful for the discounts made on categories such as business mail but the negative changes to companies, especially direct mail firms, run deeper," he said.