A Horizon label is an adhesive postage label that is a type of

variable value stamp A variable value stamp is a gummed or self-adhesive postage stamp of a common design, issued by a machine similar to an automatic teller machine (ATM), with a value of the user's choice printed at the time the stamp is dispensed. The value may be va ...

. The labels were introduced in the United Kingdom in 2002"GB Postal Stationery, Postal Labels and Postmarks: Horizon Labels" by John Holman in ''

Gibbons Stamp Monthly ''Gibbons Stamp Monthly'' (''GSM'') is a British philatelic magazine which can trace its roots back to 1890. GSM is published by the famous stamps and collectables firm of Stanley Gibbons and each issue includes updates to their various catalogues ...

'', February 2008, p. 43. as part of the computerisation of the counter services of the

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

network of

Royal Mail Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...

using the Horizon System.

Reception

The labels received a frosty reception from

philatelists Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. While closely associated with stamp collecting and the study of postage, it is possible ...

initially as they were seen as replacing postage stamps, but as they have become more complex and more stamp-like, collectors have warmed to them and they have now become a popular collecting specialism in the U.K. and an established part of modern British

postal history Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of the use of postage stamps and Cover (philately), covers and associated postal artifacts illustrating historical episodes in the development of postal system ...

Timeline

The first labels were large plain labels composed purely of text but later labels are of a gold colour with a

Machin head The Machin series of postage stamps was the main definitive stamp series in the United Kingdom for most of the reign of Elizabeth II, from 1967 until her death in 2022. Introduced on 5 June 1967, it was the second series of her reign, replac ...

and a repeating pattern of the words ROYALMAIL in order to prevent forgery. The principal events in the development of the labels were: *14 February 2002 – First labels used in about 1000 post offices. Plain white with straight edges. *30 April 2002 – Security slits added to prevent reuse. *August & September 2002 – Labels rolled out nationally. *April 2009 – Labels with simulated perforations appear. *8 June 2009 – First gold labels appear featuring the

for

Special Delivery Special Delivery may refer to: * Special delivery (postal service), a postal service for urgent postal packets Literature * "Special Delivery" (short story), a 1953 short story by Damon Knight * ''Special Delivery'' (novel), a 1997 novel by ...

only from the

Camden High Street The A400 road is an A roads in Great Britain, A road in London that runs from Charing Cross (near Trafalgar Square, in London's West End of London, West End) to Archway, London, Archway in North London. It passes some of London's most famous l ...

P.O., London. Gold labels gradually introduced nationally. *20 April 2010 – First labels with dual English-Welsh language inscriptions available from Welsh post offices. *23 August 2010 – Straight-edged labels reintroduced first at

Old Street Old Street is a street in inner north-east Central London, England that runs west to east from Goswell Road in Clerkenwell, in the London Borough of Islington, via St Luke's and Old Street Roundabout, to the crossroads where it meets Shor ...

then nationally. *29 September 2011 –

Value Added Tax A value-added tax (VAT or goods and services tax (GST), general consumption tax (GCT)) is a consumption tax that is levied on the value added at each stage of a product's production and distribution. VAT is similar to, and is often compared wi ...

codes added. *May 2015 – "Pre-cancelled" labels trialled at the Europhilex exhibition with corner "Single Use Only" wording. Colour changed back to white. Subsequently used nationally. *September 2015 – Barcode added to the design.

Post Office training

The training of postal workers includes the use of voided horizon labels, noted as early as 2003."Horizon Training Labels"
in ''Dummy Stamps'', Issue 25, Quarter 2, 2012, p.12
Archived here.
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References

{{Reflist

External links

Horizon Postage Labels~Full List
Philatelic terminology Philately of the United Kingdom Royal Mail