Just over three-quarters of first class letters - 75.7%, to be precise - were delivered on time by Royal Mail in the year to the end of March, falling woefully short of its target of 93%. The latest quality-of-service report marks the postal firm's first full year under its new private owner, Daniel Kretinsky's EP Group, whose takeover was approved by shareholders at the end of April last year. Regulator Ofcom said it was "very concerned" by the figures, and the BBC understands the regulator expects to open a probe into Royal Mail's performance early next week.
Royal Mail, in a display of optimism that would make a motivational speaker blush, said its service was improving and that it was on track to hit new reduced targets - 90% for first class and 95% for second class - by this time next year. Chief operating officer Jamie Stephenson said: "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." The firm said it was investing £500 million over the next five years as part of its improvement plan.
The annual figures, published on Friday, show performance worsened compared to the previous year when the company was still listed on the London stock market. That year, 76.9% of first class letters and 92.2% of second class letters arrived 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 second class delivery targets and ten years since it last hit its first class targets. Performance slumped during the Covid-19 pandemic and has failed to fully recover.
In October last year, Ofcom fined Royal Mail £21 million for missing targets - the third-largest fine ever imposed by the communications watchdog. Royal Mail was also fined in 2023 and 2024 for poor performance. In February, postal workers told the BBC that some letters had been sitting undelivered for weeks and that they had been told to prioritise parcel delivery instead, as it is more profitable. Royal Mail executives were hauled before a parliamentary select committee in March to respond. Kretinsky told MPs he was "deeply sorry for any letter that arrives late" and denied any instruction to prioritise parcels over letters.
Reacting to Friday's figures, Citizens Advice policy director Tom MacInnes said poor performance at Royal Mail was "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 given part-time postal workers the option to work longer hours and agreed with Ofcom to scrap second class delivery on Saturdays. Ofcom has also reduced Royal Mail's letter delivery targets: since April, 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 noted that the previous targets were "more stretching" than in comparable European countries and would "carry higher costs which would need to be recovered through higher prices." In other words, enjoy your late letters - they're cheaper that way.