Royal Mail has issued a significant update on its plan to cease second-class letter deliveries on Saturdays, confirming that a large-scale pilot is already in progress.
Pilot Programme and National Rollout
The delivery service change, which will see second-class post no longer delivered on Saturdays, is scheduled to be introduced nationwide early next year. However, a test phase for this update began much earlier.
35 delivery offices across the UK are currently participating in this pilot scheme, which officially started back in July. The owners of Royal Mail, International Distribution Services (IDS), have described the implementation of these reforms as a "massive task."
Martin Seidenberg, the chief executive of IDS, stated that the company would "take the time to get this right" and would not rush into expanding the reforms across its entire network. He also sought to reassure customers about the upcoming festive season, saying, "We never underestimate the important role we play at Christmas and we are hiring more people, opening temporary parcel sorting centres and putting more vans on the road to deliver for our customers again this year."
Ofcom's Multi-Million Pound Fine
This operational shift comes as Royal Mail faces intense scrutiny from the industry regulator, Ofcom. The postal service has been fined £21 million for failing to meet its delivery targets for first and second-class mail during the 2024-25 financial year.
An investigation by Ofcom revealed that Royal Mail's performance fell drastically short of its legal obligations. The company delivered only 77% of first-class mail on time, against a target of 93%. For second-class mail, the on-time delivery rate was 92.5%, missing the 98.5% target.
Ian Strawhorne, Ofcom's Director of Enforcement, was unequivocal in his criticism. "Millions of important letters are arriving late, and people aren’t getting what they pay for when they buy a stamp," he said. "These persistent failures are unacceptable, and customers expect and deserve better."
Urgent Improvement Plan Required
The communications watchdog has mandated that Royal Mail must now urgently produce and deliver a credible plan to improve its service; failure to do so will likely result in further financial penalties.
Ofcom's investigation concluded that Royal Mail had "breached its obligations by failing to provide an acceptable level of service without justification." The regulator also found that measures previously taken by the company to meet its targets were "insufficient and ineffective."
Strawhorne called on Royal Mail to rebuild public confidence "as a matter of urgency," adding, "And that means making actual significant improvements, not more empty promises." The substantial fine reflects the "harm suffered by customers" as a direct result of the substandard postal service.
