A bit of a rip-off !

As our move to the new office in Paddock Wood draws closer, so we start looking in more detail at those small chores which accompany any relocation. Today I turned my attention to redirecting our mail.

In theory it's simple enough. £120 +VAT for 3 months forwarding, so £144. 

Then you read the small print.

You need to pay £144 for each address or name which you want to be forwarded. For example:

1. Tonbridge & Malling Conservative Association

2. West Kent Conservatives

3. Chatham & Aylesford Conservative Association

4. Tracey Crouch MP

5. Conservative Party

6. West Kent Conservative Campaign HQ

...and so on.

Across our five Associations, if you include the various constituencies, internal clubs and societies, MPs, Conservative Council Groups and affiliates, I counted 23 different names. Each one of these receives mail each week - many containing cheques and payments, requests for help or advice or voter ID data. 

Simple maths will indicate the problem: 23 x £144 = £3312. Just to forward the post!

We are now considering the ridiculous proposition of extending our lease for three months and leaving the office empty (with me calling-in twice per week to collect the post) as this will be a third of the price of mail forwarding!