Ofcom has launched an investigation into Royal Mail for failing to meet its annual delivery targets, with nearly a quarter of first-class mail arriving late. The company has been fined £37m since 2023 for similar breaches.
Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsRoyal Mail has promised to invest £500m over the next five years to improve its UK delivery service.The service is now working towards meeting its new postal delivery targets by May next year, after agreeing a plan to roll out changes to scrap second-class post on Saturdays.We recognise our service hasn’t always been the standard our customers rightly expect and we’re determined to do better. The plan we’ve set out today shows how we’ll make a step change in performance across the UK, backed by £500 million of investment over the next five years.”As well as fining Royal Mail £37 million for failing to deliver what customers expect and deserve, we’ve also been calling on the company to publicly set out a credible plan for change, backed by investment. Now that’s published, Royal Mail needs to get on and implement it. Their plan must deliver significant and continuous improvement, with performance getting back on track.”We welcome any serious proposal that seeks to reverse customer service failings at Royal Mail, but what really matters is what happens on the ground to make that change happen.Postal workers remain committed to delivering for the communities they serve, but they need the tools to do this.In campuses, we are seeing accelerating demand from a new wave of AI and innovation-led occupiers, driving strong rental growth in what remains a supply constrained market. Continue reading...
Royal Mail will end Saturday second-class post deliveries and switch to every-other-weekday delivery from May as part of a £500m turnaround plan. The changes follow a union deal ending dispute over the overhaul, with the company promising to meet Ofcom targets of 90% first-class next-day and 95% second-class within three days by next May. The company was fined a record £21m last October for missing targets, delivering only 77% of first-class and 92.5% of second-class post on time in 2024-25.
