Royal Mail has announced it will scrap Saturday deliveries for second-class post and deliver it only every other weekday from next month, as part of a £500m plan to tackle persistent late deliveries. The changes, piloted since July, will be rolled out nationwide in May following a deal with unions.
First-class post and parcels will remain unaffected, with daily deliveries from Monday to Saturday for first-class and up to seven days a week for parcels. The company aims to meet new Ofcom targets by next May after being fined a record £21m last October for missing delivery goals.
The investment includes allowing 6,000 part-time postal workers to increase their hours, funded by savings from the universal service changes. Royal Mail recently raised stamp prices to £1.80 for first-class and 91p for second-class, despite criticism from Citizens Advice over service failures.
Dave Ward, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, welcomed the proposal but stressed the need for proper resourcing and workforce input. He criticised Royal Mail's top-down management and called for government oversight to ensure promises are kept.
Royal Mail expects to improve first-class next-day delivery to 85% within nine months, reaching the 90% Ofcom target within a year. For second-class, it aims for 93% delivery within three days in nine months and 95% by May next year. Ofcom has lowered targets but added a new backstop requiring 99% of mail delivered no more than two days late.
Chief executive Alistair Cochrane acknowledged the service had fallen short and pledged a 'step change' in performance. The overhaul comes a year after Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský's EP Group completed a £3.6bn takeover of Royal Mail's parent company.
