Royal Mail is implementing a new strategy to address its persistent letter delivery challenges, including offering part-time postal workers additional hours to improve service reliability.
Part-time employees will have the opportunity to increase their working hours as part of a broader £500 million investment plan spanning the next five years. This initiative comes after Royal Mail failed to meet even reduced delivery targets set by regulator Ofcom, with current performance showing only three-quarters of first-class letters arriving on time against a 93% target.
Company officials estimate it will take five to six months to implement these changes, with full target compliance expected within a year. The improvement measures also include providing postal workers with more consistent delivery routes, enhanced management of sickness absences, and targeted support for underperforming delivery offices.
Service adjustments include reducing second-class and non-priority mail delivery to every other weekday instead of daily, while parcel services will continue Monday through Saturday. The company is also proceeding with plans to eliminate Saturday delivery for second-class post.
Dave Ward, general secretary of the Communication Workers' Union, expressed cautious optimism about the plan, stating that postal workers "welcome any plan that reverses the chaos that posties have seen." However, he questioned Royal Mail's commitment to implementation, noting the company's inconsistent track record with previous promises.
Ricky McAulay, Royal Mail's UK Operations Director, described the initiative as a "fundamental reset" that aligns with practices already adopted by European postal services. He defended the company against allegations of prioritizing more profitable parcels over letters, insisting there is no systematic bias.
The plan has received conditional approval from the Communication Workers' Union, pending a membership vote. This development occurs against the backdrop of ongoing discussions about reforming Royal Mail's Universal Service Obligation, which mandates six-day weekly letter delivery to all UK addresses—a requirement the company considers outdated.