FURTHER pressure is being piled on Royal Mail by rival delivery firms and a year on from its controversial privatisation the company has announced lower half-year profits.

Royal Mail warned this week that the way rivals such as TNT are given access rights to delivery routes threatens its commitment to a six-days-a-week service.

It also warned the UK parcels market will grow by less than expected over the next two years due to Amazon’s increased use of its own delivery network.

It wants regulator Ofcom to accelerate its review of direct delivery competition, which is currently planned for completion in late 2015.

Royal Mail said pre-tax profits fell to £218 million from £233 million a year earlier in the six months to September 28, although a number of one-off items distorted the performance and the results were still at the top end of City expectations.

Parcel volumes were up two per cent in the period but the division’s revenues fell one per cent in a “highly competitive” marketplace.

Rival parcels carrier TNT is offering Bradford businesses trial free deliveries.

The company is offering a “try before you buy” initiative from it’s Birkenshaw depot in a move believed to be a first in the transport and logistics industry.

Companies new to TNT can place an order online for a free consignment of up to 100 kilograms for shipping to another business in the UK or Europe, with discounts of up to 20 per cent on future deliveries until the end of the year.