The potential postal strike in the UK could harm SMEs, but will also highlight how new technologies could replace the traditional Royal Mail Service.

Earlier this week, members of the Communications Workers Union (CWU) voted to carry out a series of strikes after negations between the union and Royal Mail broke down.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said that the government should intervene as any disruption to postal services could be devastating for the UK's SMEs.

"Our survey on the postal service showed that 88 per cent of small firms send mail every day and 94 per cent of small businesses use Royal Mail exclusively," explained Clive Davenport, the FSB's trade and industry chairman.

"A cheque delayed in the post can mean the difference between life and death for a small business, which means that this strike cannot be allowed to go ahead."

However, some new businesses which use IT technology to deliver mail are looking forward to the strike as it will give them the opportunity to show the business world how effective they can be.

Companies like L-Mail use the internet to offer online postal services for less than Royal Mail.

"By way of an example, where a post office charges 78p for the airmail stamp alone to Australia, L-Mail will process a four page letter and charge 68p including all the stationery, postage and dispatch of the letter from within the country," the company's managing director, Peter Harris, explained.