A local family-run business has just celebrated five successful years in business, despite operating in a marketplace that many consider to be ‘monopolised’ by another provider.  Signed Sealed and Delivered Limited (SSAD) is a family-run business that focuses on bulk mailing services, and which therefore provides healthy competition to the Isle of Man Post Office’s IMS division.
 
Managing Director Tommy Harrison explained: “Many Manx organisations have resigned themselves to the costs quoted by the IOM Post Office for their mailing services, believing that there are no other options.  As it is a part-public institution with statutory protections, I can understand why.  However, the fact is that the services used by most local companies, charities and community organisations are not subject to a legal monopoly, and in fact looking at other providers can save these organisations a significant amount of money.”
 
In the five years since incorporation, SSAD has sent over a third of a million letters on behalf of local organisations and is now even starting to see an interest from companies in the UK.  Tommy enthused: “We estimate that so far we have saved our clients an average of approximately 10% on their postage costs, which is the headline figure and why we are seeing a significant growth.  However, I think our database cleaning is what has really helped the local economy - just for the 2011 Manx election, by removing duplicates, incorrect addresses and other errors we estimate that we managed to save candidates ?20,000 in postal costs and reduce the amount of waste material in the Island’s landfills by over four tonnes!”
 
He continued: “I am really pleased we have made it this far, because it shows that we’re offering value to local organisations, both companies and charities alike, large and small.”
 
In addition to local mailing, the company has recently launched a Print2Post service, which allows organisations to reduce their off-Island letter mailing costs by printing directly from their computer to a printer in the UK, which goes on headed paper, is professionally enveloped and then automatically posted.
 
In addition to opening a bottle of champagne, SSAD has also marked its birthday by launching a new website, built by a Manx designer, which can be found at www.ssad.co.im.