The call from the business secretary comes weeks before the government's review of the postal service.

The review, conducted by the former deputy chairman of Ofcom Richard Hooper, is widely expected to highlight the unsustainable nature of the current mailing model.

Gurdev Singh, managing director of direct mail printer Howitt, said: "Partial privatisation? I think it should be fully privatised. There needs to be drastic changes."

He added: "At the moment, it seems that Royal Mail is fighting with one arm stuck behind its back and I agree that maintaining the status quo is imply not an option."

Alex Walsh, head of postal affairs at the DMA, echoed his thoughts saying the association "would like to see an efficient, profitable Royal Mail and it has been questioned before whether this can happen in its current structure".

The postal regulator Postcomm earlier this year put its weight behind the partial privatisation of Royal Mail. It argued that access to private capital coupled with a stronger set of incentives were necessary to help it restructure and become more profitable.

Jude Whitford, operations director at Pepper Communications, said: "I think partial privatisation would help, I really do."

He said: "Hopefully it will allow the Royal Mail to be more competitive and help provide a more efficient service for direct mail."