Royal Mail has officially announced a significant delay to its controversial plan to stop Saturday deliveries for second-class letters, pushing the nationwide rollout back to early 2026.
Why the change has been postponed
The postal service was originally given regulatory approval by Ofcom to begin phasing out Saturday second-class letter deliveries from July 2025. This was a key part of a major modernisation strategy aimed at adapting to falling letter volumes and refocusing the business on the more profitable parcel delivery sector.
However, Royal Mail has now decided to take more time to implement these sweeping reforms. The delay comes in the wake of a £21 million fine from Ofcom in October, imposed for consistently missing annual delivery targets. This penalty highlighted ongoing service concerns and performance issues within the company.
Martin Seidenberg, chief executive of Royal Mail's parent company International Distribution Services (IDS), described the overhaul as a "massive task" and stated the company would "take the time to get this right" rather than rush the changes.
What is happening now and what comes next
For the time being, households across most of the UK will see no change to their weekend mail. Both first and second-class letters will continue to be delivered on Saturdays as usual.
The new system, where second-class post is delivered on weekdays only, has already been trialled. Pilot schemes have been running successfully in 35 Royal Mail delivery offices. Under this model, resources are redirected to bolster the parcel delivery network.
Despite these local tests, IDS has confirmed it will not expand the scheme across its network of 1,200 delivery offices until early next year at the very earliest. The company has not yet revealed which offices will be next to adopt the new weekday-only schedule for second-class mail.
What the reforms mean for you
When the changes are eventually implemented nationwide, it will signal the end of weekend second-class post for most customers. Ofcom has already adjusted Royal Mail's official service targets to reflect the planned reforms:
- The target for next-day delivery of first-class post has been reduced to 90%, down from 93%.
- The target for second-class letters to arrive within three days is now 95%, down from 98.5%.
To prevent widespread delays, the regulator has also introduced a new "backstop" rule, requiring that 99% of all mail must be delivered no more than two days later than its target date.
Looking ahead to the busy festive season, Royal Mail says it is preparing for the Christmas rush by hiring 20,000 temporary staff, adding 7,000 new vans to its fleet, and opening four extra parcel sorting centres to manage the increased demand for parcel services.
