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Fri, 29 May 2026

Fri, 29 May 2026 Only three-quarters of first class mail delivered on time

Royal Mail says its service is improving and that it is on track to hit the regulator Ofcom's reduced targets

* Royal Mail delivered only 75.7% of first-class letters on time, far short of its target of 93%.
* Ofcom is "very concerned" by the figures and may open a probe into Royal Mail's performance.
* The postal service has faced criticism over its slow delivery times for years and has been fined £21m by Ofcom for missing targets in the past.
* Royal Mail's new private owner, Daniel Kretinsky's EP Group, is investing £500m in an improvement plan to increase reliability and meet new targets of 90% for first-class delivery and 95% for second-class delivery.
* The company says it needs more time to make improvements, but critics say its performance has worsened since the takeover.
* Ofcom reduced Royal Mail's letter delivery targets earlier this year due to concerns that the previous targets were too high and would result in higher costs.
* MPs have raised "significant concerns" about reports of failures in service at Royal Mail.