Britain’s letter writers, and the small businesses that still depend on the post for invoices, contracts and statutory notices, are paying the price for another year of underperformance at Royal Mail.
Just 75.7% of first-class mail was delivered on time in the 12 months to the end of March, the postal operator confirmed on Friday, a country mile from its 93% regulatory target and the first full-year snapshot of life under Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky’s EP Group, which completed its £3.6bn takeover last spring.
Performance has actually slipped since the company’s final year on the London Stock Exchange, when 76.9% of first-class and 92.2% of second-class letters arrived on time. The new figures show only 90.2% of second-class post landed within three working days, against a target of 98.5%.
The communications regulator described itself as “very concerned” by the figures. Business Matters understands Ofcom is preparing to open a formal investigation into Royal Mail’s performance as soon as next week – a move that would almost certainly lead to a further multi-million-pound fine on top of the £21m penalty imposed last October, the third-largest in the watchdog’s history.
It is six years since Royal Mail last hit its second-class target and a decade since it cleared the bar on first-class. The slump that began during the pandemic has stubbornly refused to reverse.
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