Royal Mail has officially announced a significant delay to its planned postal service changes, pushing a major overhaul of its delivery network into 2026.
What Changes Are Being Postponed?
The postal group, owned by International Distribution Services (IDS), will not proceed with its wider plan to scrap second-class letter deliveries on Saturdays across the UK. This reform was a central part of a pilot scheme that has been running in 35 delivery offices. The pilot also includes moving to an every-other-weekday delivery schedule for some services.
The business had initially received permission from the regulator, Ofcom, to begin implementing these reforms from the end of July this year. However, during the announcement of its half-year results on November 12, company bosses confirmed the nationwide rollout would not begin until early 2026.
Leadership Cites Need for Caution
Martin Seidenberg, the chief executive of IDS, explained the decision, describing the network reforms as a "massive task." He stated the company would "take the time to get this right" and avoid rushing the expansion across its entire network of 1,200 delivery offices.
IDS confirmed it is still too early to determine a final completion date for the changes or to announce which offices will be next in line for the overhaul. This cautious approach follows a substantial fine levied against the postal service.
Ofcom Fine and Performance Failures
The decision to pause the rollout comes as Royal Mail was fined £21 million by Ofcom for missing its delivery targets during the 2024-25 financial year.
An investigation by the communications watchdog found that the service delivered only 77% of first-class mail and 92.5% of second-class mail on time. These figures fell drastically short of its targets of 93% for first-class and 98.5% for second-class mail.
Ian Strawhorne, Ofcom's Director of Enforcement, said: “Millions of important letters are arriving late, and people aren’t getting what they pay for when they buy a stamp.” He labelled the persistent failures as “unacceptable” and called on Royal Mail to rebuild confidence in its service “as a matter of urgency.”
Ofcom has mandated that Royal Mail must now deliver a credible plan for improvement, warning that further fines are likely if performance does not show a swift and significant recovery.
