The Fed has clawed back more than £100,000 for members who have suffered issues with publishers and news publishers in the past seven months alone, the highest success rate on record.

The Fed Contact Centre has achieved the figure each year for the past four years, mostly for missing or late papers, vouchers or credit. However, this year’s results suggest the Fed is on track to hit £171,000 returned to members by year end.

Based on approximately 9,000 calls about news wholesaler issues during the latest seven-month period, this equates to £11.11 returned to members for each call received. However, the largest single amount recovered for an individual member stands at £13,000.

Contact Centre manager Andrew Williamson said the team “leave no stone unturned when attempting to resolve an issue,” adding that Fed staff involved are “immensely proud” of the level of funds returned to retailers.

Fed national president Muntazir Dipoti added: “Every penny counts during these difficult trading times.

“The work that our Contact Centre team does on a daily basis to get remuneration for members who would otherwise be unfairly out of pocket is exemplary and much appreciated.”

The latest complaints level data from Smiths News and Menzies suggests the Fed is receiving double the number of news wholesaler service complaints as the two wholesalers themselves.

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