Overview
- Royal Mail said just 73.4% of first-class letters arrived next working day between 20 June and 28 September, with 90.4% of second-class delivered within three working days.
- Planned changes to letter deliveries include ending Saturday second-class and moving that service to every other weekday, though wider rollout is now postponed until early 2026.
- Pilots of the new delivery model are under way across 35 delivery offices, with the firm indicating it will expand the trials before a broader deployment.
- The disclosure follows a £21 million Ofcom fine for failing 2024–25 targets, with the regulator warning of continued penalties unless a credible improvement plan is delivered.
- Royal Mail says it is recruiting about 20,000 seasonal workers and hiring more frontline staff, simplifying operations, and investing in the pilot model to lift on-time performance.