Royal Mail First Class Mail Delivery Falls Short of Target
Just over three-quarters of first class letters, or 75.7%, were delivered on time by Royal Mail in the year ending March, significantly below its target of 93%.
The latest quality-of-service report reflects the postal company’s performance under its new private owner, Daniel Kretinsky's EP Group, whose takeover was approved by shareholders at the end of April last year.
Ofcom expressed being "very concerned" by the figures. The BBC understands the regulator plans to initiate a probe into Royal Mail's performance early next week.
Royal Mail stated that its service is improving and that it is on track to meet new reduced targets – 90% for first class delivery and 95% for second class – by this time next year.
"We're putting significant investment into improving reliability and reaching these new delivery targets, but delivering lasting change across a network of this scale takes time," said Chief Operating Officer Jamie Stephenson.
The company announced it will invest £500 million over the next five years as part of its improvement plan.
Royal Mail has faced years of criticism from politicians and the public regarding the slowness of its letter delivery.
Performance Decline and Historical Context
The annual figures published on Friday indicate a decline compared to the previous year, when the company was still publicly listed on the London stock market.
In that year, 76.9% of first class letters and 92.2% of second class letters were delivered on time.
This year, only 90.2% of second class letters were delivered within three working days, against a target of 98.5%.
It has been six years since Royal Mail last met its letter delivery targets for second class post and ten years since it last met targets for first class post.
The company’s performance deteriorated during the Covid-19 pandemic and has yet to fully recover.
Regulatory Actions and Fines
In October last year, Ofcom fined Royal Mail £21 million for missing delivery targets – the third-largest fine ever imposed by the communications regulator.
Royal Mail was also fined in 2023 and 2024 for poor performance.
Operational Challenges and Parliamentary Scrutiny
In February this year, postal workers informed the BBC that some letters had remained undelivered for weeks and that they were instructed to prioritise parcel delivery, which is more profitable.
Royal Mail executives appeared before a parliamentary select committee in March to address these claims.
Daniel Kretinsky told MPs at the meeting that he was "deeply sorry for any letter that arrives late."
In response to allegations that parcels were being prioritised, he stated: "I have never heard any instruction or discussion, and have not participated in any exchange, that would sanction that Royal Mail is prioritising parcels over letters."
Improvement Plan
Following Friday’s performance figures, Citizens Advice policy director Tom MacInnes described poor performance at Royal Mail as "business as usual."
"What's worse, Royal Mail claims people will have to wait another year until it can meet its new, lower delivery targets," he added.
As part of its improvement plan, Royal Mail has offered part-time postal workers the option to work longer hours.
It has also agreed with Ofcom to discontinue second class delivery on Saturdays as part of a new operational model.
Ofcom has reduced Royal Mail's letter delivery targets. Since April this year, the service has been measured against lower targets: 90% of first class letters must arrive by the next working day and 95% of second class letters must be delivered within three days.
Ofcom stated that the previous targets were "more stretching" than those in comparable European countries and would "carry higher costs which would need to be recovered through higher prices."
