Revenue protection - Royal Mail phasing out the pen-cancel?

According to MyRoyalMail, the  business is reporting a 9% decline in the number of non-cancelled postage stamps in the network.

"We also cancel the stamp parcels that we get through the parcels pipeline, which has helped to protect our revenue.

A new hand-stamp tool has also been successfully trialled in Banbury and London delivery offices with a view to being rolled out nationwide in the new financial year. This will make it easier for teams to cancel stamps."

Operational changes to the mailstream should help to pull out uncancelled mail - although direction to Post Office branches to cancel mail on request would help collectable mail get a good postmark.

From the picture it still seems like a handstamp and an old-fashioned PO inkpad rather than a self-inking device which would probably be more efficient.

UPDATE
I've been sent this picture which shows what appears to be a self-inking wavy-line handstamp, said to have been chosen from one of 6 trialled at Banbury in Oxfordshire.

But anything that prevents stamps being cancelled like these below, has to be good.

The first of these already has the machine postmark; the second is uncancelled.

And this one, by Special Delivery, should have been cancelled at the Post Office branch counter - this is deliberate destruction of the customer's property.

UPDATE 1 July 2015
Thanks to an Anonymous comment, these from 'myroyalmail.com'

From today, delivery offices will start to receive the new hand-stamping tool. Non-cancelled postage stamps in our network lose the business significant amounts of money each year. This tool is designed to easily help our postmen and women stamp out this loss of revenue.

Last year, we asked you for your ideas about how we can protect our revenue. We listened to your suggestions and acted on your feedback and have developed the new hand-stamping tool.

We trialled six shortlisted hand-stamp tools at Banbury and Mount Pleasant delivery offices to arrive at the best model for the job.

Although the first opportunity to cancel stamps is in the mail centre, postmen and women are an essential last line of defence to tackle the issue. Remember: revenue protection is everyone’s responsibility.

Keep an eye out for the new hand-stamp tool in your office.

And:

While our new hand-stamping tool will help our postmen and women protect our revenue, mail centres are the first line of defence in making sure stamps are cancelled.
In a mail centre, it’s important that the stamp cancelling function on your machine is on and working properly at all times. Your machine works at the same speed regardless of whether the stamp-cancelling function is on or off.

Troubleshooting

There are a number of reasons a stamped letter may still be processed through the machine and not cancelled.

• The letter is not processed through the correct machine configuration
• It was not detected by the machine, for example due to a dirty scanner
• The printer may have run out of ink
• The printer may be faulty or not maintained

If you experience any difficulty with your machine, please speak to your manager.
In addition to machines, all mail centres should have their manual hand-stamp areas staffed at all times.

Revenue protection is everyone’s responsibility.

I'll be happy to report on usage of these new handstamps, especially if there is any clue as to where they have been used.  Let's award stars to the Mail Centres which use them, and raspberries to those which don't!

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