Royal Mail has missed its delivery targets again after failing to deliver one in seven first-class letters on time during the first quarter of the year.
Figures released by the company show that 85 per cent of first-class mail arrived the next day during the first quarter. Royal Mail also delivered 91.4 per cent of second-class letters within three working days. Both figures fell short of legally binding targets set by industry regulator Ofcom.
Under benchmarks set by Ofcom, Royal Mail is required to deliver 90 per cent of first-class mail the next day and 95 per cent of second-class mail within three working days. Ofcom, the regulatory body overseeing UK telecommunications and postal services, lowered those targets on April 1 from previous targets of 93 per cent for first-class and 98.5 per cent for second-class post as part of universal service reforms.
Delivery performance improves year on year
Despite missing the lowered benchmarks, Royal Mail insisted it recorded a marked improvement compared to the same period a year earlier. In the first quarter of the previous year, just 76 per cent of first-class mail and 89.3 per cent of second-class mail arrived on time.
The company pledged recently to meet Ofcom delivery targets by May 2027 as part of a plan to invest £500 million into the service over the next five years. Royal Mail is operated by parent company International Distribution Services, which was acquired two years ago by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.
The performance figures follow changes to delivery schedules approved by Ofcom last July to reflect steep declines in letter volumes across the UK. The watchdog gave postal reforms the green light to allow second-class letters to be delivered on alternate weekdays only, scrapping second-class post on Saturdays.
Royal Mail expects to complete the rollout of the new delivery model across all its 1,200 delivery offices by Christmas. The implementation was initially delayed until the company reached an agreement with postal trade unions.
Royal Mail operations and regulatory scrutiny
Jamie Stephenson, Royal Mail chief operating officer, defended the latest performance figures, pointing to progress under the restructuring plan.
"These results are encouraging and show that the work we are doing to improve the service is having an impact," Stephenson said. "First-class performance is well ahead of where we expected to be at this stage of our improvement plan, while second-class is tracking in line with the plan."
Stephenson added that "we know there is more to do."
The results come amid ongoing regulatory scrutiny of the postal operator. Ofcom launched an investigation in June into Royal Mail's failure to meet its delivery targets for the second consecutive year in the 12 months to the end of March. The watchdog previously imposed a record £21 million fine on Royal Mail in October two years ago for missing delivery targets during 2024-25.
Consumer watchdog demands stamp price cap
Consumer advocacy group Citizens Advice called on Ofcom to intervene by capping stamp price increases while Royal Mail continues to fall short of delivery benchmarks.
Tom MacInnes, director of policy at Citizens Advice, criticised the delay in meeting national standards despite lowered performance requirements.
"Despite Ofcom lowering the company's delivery targets in April, Royal Mail has already claimed it needs until next Spring before it can actually meet them," MacInnes said. "This is not good enough and fines for poor service have had little impact."
MacInnes added: "We now want to see Ofcom using stamp price caps to ensure Royal Mail can't go on increasing prices while missing targets."
