Royal Mail has committed to invest over £500m in its operation to improve postal deliveries, claiming it will result in a “step change in performance across the UK”.
The pledge follows last week’s agreement with the Communication Workers Union over the Universal Service Obligation reforms, following months of negotiations.
In a move that will no doubt be welcomed by the direct mail industry, the group said it would begin to phase in a new letter delivery model nationwide next month.
Royal Mail insists the changes, which will see second-class post delivered every other weekday, will lead to first class next-day delivery improving to around 85% within nine months, reaching the 90% target set by regulator Ofcom within a year.
The postal giant also vowed to deliver 93% of second-class letters in three days within the space of nine months, and hit the 95% target by May next year.
Royal Mail was fined a record £21m by Ofcom last October for missing targets after it delivered just 77% of first-class post and 92.5% of second-class post on time in 2024-25.
The company said its £500m investment in the service over the next five years included an agreement to allow around 6,000 part-time postal workers to increase their average weekly hours if needed as part of the second-class post reforms. It will be funded by savings made from the changes to the USO.
Royal Mail chief executive Alistair Cochrane said: “We recognise our service hasn’t always been the standard our customers rightly expect and we’re determined to do better.
“The plan we’ve set out today shows how we’ll make a step change in performance across the UK, backed by £500m of investment over the next five years.”
The move coincides with the appointment of a new customer experience and service director at Royal Mail.
Emma Ford joins from PwC UK where she served as a director. She also spent almost six years at Asda, holding a number of roles during that time, including digital transformation director and has held senior roles at Walmart and Waitrose.
In a LinkedIn post, she said: “Royal Mail is an organisation with a remarkable heritage and a vital role in connecting people and businesses across the UK. I’m thrilled to be joining at such an important time, as customer expectations continue to evolve and service excellence becomes more critical than ever.”
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