Manchester City Council’s digital shift delivers 70%+ read rates with Publisure Lite
Manchester City Council has partnered with Publisure since 2012 to enhance its outbound communications through digital transformation, starting with document consolidation and automation software, which has resulted in over 30% savings in daily postal costs.
In January 2025 they deployed Publisure Lite, our digital platform that focuses on user engagement and digital performance to tackle increasing administrative workloads and mounting pressure to deliver services more efficiently. A key objective was to significantly reduce reliance on physical mail by embracing digital communication channels, with Publisure Lite working alongside the hybrid mail system.
The challenges faced
Manchester City Council was facing several operational and technological hurdles that were limiting efficiency and employee satisfaction. These challenges highlighted the need for a more streamlined, cost-effective, and user-friendly approach to delivering digital services to increase engagement.
Limited and costly management: The council was looking to introduce more flexibility for digital document types to reduce operational costs.
Web portal access issues: Frequent login problems resulting from customers forgetting their credentials were leading to increased administrative workloads in managing access requests.
User friction: The requirements for residents to log into a portal created a barrier to access, adding an unnecessary step that negatively impacted the user experience.
Annual billing expansion: With the large number of letters posted for Annual Billing, Manchester City Council was looking for new ways to reduce the costs of physical post.
Escalating postage issues: Increases in Royal Mail postage rates placed additional financial pressure on the council, which, alongside reduced post-delivery days, was driving the need to move away from relying on physical post.
Our solution
” A positive of what you offer is there’s less friction, it’s easy, and it integrates into what staff are already used to.”
— Ben Hamilton, Senior Systems Manager for Revenues and Benefits.
To address the challenges Manchester City Council faced with document delivery, we implemented Publisure Lite, designed for secure, scalable digital distribution. The strategy focused on reducing reliance on physical post (hybrid mail), focusing on email and one-time access portal delivery to help minimise administrative workloads and improve the end-user experience.
Key factors included:
Automated document delivery: Our workflow prioritises digital communications first, only sending physical letters due to preference, no contact information or if the digital communication hasn’t been delivered or read.
Delivery and read feature: Publisure Lite includes ‘delivered’ and ‘read’ notifications to ensure the Revs and Bens department can monitor.
Two-Factor authentication: By leveraging the existing contact details, documents could be sent directly to residents without requiring portal logins, removing a major barrier to access.
Mass onboarding for email delivery: A large-scale onboarding initiative was undertaken to collect, validate, and integrate resident email addresses, enabling a rapid and efficient transition.
Flexibility for document types: Publisure Lite introduced greater flexibility in templating and file handling, allowing a wider range of documents—such as debt management files and other critical communications— to be delivered digitally.
Scalability during peak times: Publisure Lite’s infrastructure ensured stability during high-demand periods like annual billing.
GOV.UK Notify integration: Our integration with GOV.UK Notify allowed Manchester City Council to enjoy the simple templating for email delivery, whilst utilising the cost-efficient communications.
“I think the GOV.UK Notify service is good. I like the way the templates work. I think the mark-up, the way you do the templates isn’t quite strict. I like the way that it doesn’t actually give you loads and loads and loads of options for the look and feel… It’s very simple.”
— Ben Hamilton, Senior Systems Manager for Revenues and Benefits.
What has been the results since the Publisure Lite system was implemented?
Manchester City Council was able to export its customers’ digital profiles directly into the Publisure system. Multiple references can be linked to a single email account enabling its greater use across the authority. Initially starting with just over 20% of total recipients added to the system, between 03/01/25 and 05/05/25, Manchester City Council sent 15,359 communications via Publisure Lite of which 70% were read, saving them over £9,200.
- 70% total read rates
- 40% read on first digital notification
- Average savings of £55 per day
- £9,200+ total savings (including annual billing)
“We can see what’s been read and what’s not. That isn’t something that we had before.”
— Ben Hamilton, Senior Systems Manager for Revenues and Benefits.