Royal Mail has paused the full rollout of its second-class post overhaul until after Christmas, responding to calls for the service to improve its performance.
The company said it had agreed with the postal workers’ union to delay expanding the reforms to the remaining 107 delivery offices until January, allowing staff to concentrate on the peak festive season.
Reforms and rollout progress
Royal Mail, whose owner International Distribution Services was bought last year by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, is introducing major changes that will see second-class post delivered only on alternate weekdays, with Saturday second-class deliveries scrapped.
The business had expected to expand the new model across all its 1,200 delivery offices by Christmas, after initial delays caused by disagreements with the trade union. So far, the changes have been completed in just under 1,100 delivery offices, with another 15 included by November 2. The reforms will now be applied to the final 107 offices across the UK on January 11.
Pressure and response
Prime Minister Andy Burnham last week told Royal Mail to improve its performance and warned the Government would take “further measures” after repeated failures to meet delivery targets. The Communication Workers Union also called earlier this month for an emergency summit on Royal Mail’s future, claiming the organisation was “on the brink of collapse”.
Royal Mail insisted its reforms were starting to show results, describing the latest delay as a “pragmatic approach” to “maintain the momentum behind one of the biggest operational changes in its history, while keeping focus firmly on delivering a successful Christmas for customers”.
CEO on progress
Alistair Cochrane, chief executive of Royal Mail, said: “We have now deployed our new delivery model in around 90% of delivery offices and are starting to see the benefits for customers.”
“First-class quality of service has improved by 9%, and offices operating under the new delivery model are delivering to around 95% of addresses each day on average, compared with 88% before rollout began.”
“There is still more to do, but the progress we are seeing gives us confidence that the new delivery model will continue to ensure more reliable, efficient and sustainable deliveries for our customers,” he added.
