Royal Mail failed to meet its delivery targets in the first quarter of the year, delivering 85 percent of first-class mail the next day and 91.4 percent of second-class mail within three working days. These figures fall short of the benchmarks set by the UK's communications regulator, Ofcom, which requires 90 percent of first-class mail to be delivered the next day and 95 percent of second-class mail within three days.
These targets were lowered by Ofcom from previous benchmarks of 93 percent for first-class and 98.5 percent for second-class mail, as part of reforms to the universal service. Despite missing the revised goals, Royal Mail reported year-on-year improvements, with first-quarter figures showing an increase from 76 percent for first-class and 89.3 percent for second-class mail in the previous year. This comes after the company recently scrapped second-class post on Saturdays.
Royal Mail's owner, International Distribution Services, acquired by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky two years ago, has pledged to meet the Ofcom delivery targets by May 2027. This commitment is part of a five-year plan to invest £500 million in the service. The rollout of a new delivery model, allowing second-class letters to be delivered on alternate weekdays only, is expected to be completed across all 1,200 delivery offices by Christmas, following delays related to agreements with trade unions.
Jamie Stephenson, Royal Mail chief operating officer, described the results as "encouraging" and indicative of the impact of ongoing improvement efforts. He stated that first-class performance was ahead of expectations for this stage of the plan, while second-class performance was in line with projections, though he acknowledged that more work remains.
Ofcom launched an investigation in June into Royal Mail's repeated failure to meet delivery targets for the second consecutive year, covering the 12 months leading up to March. The company was previously fined £21 million by Ofcom in October two years ago for missing targets in the 2024-25 period.
Citizens Advice has urged Ofcom to implement stamp price caps while Royal Mail continues to miss its service targets. Tom MacInnes, director of policy at Citizens Advice, expressed dissatisfaction with the situation, noting that Royal Mail's claim of needing until next spring to meet the lowered targets is "not good enough." He added that fines for poor service have had little effect and that price caps are necessary to prevent price increases amidst ongoing service shortfalls.