Inside Royal Mail’s £500m plans to deliver post on time

Business & Finance
21 Apr 2026 • 11:18 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

Inside Royal Mail’s £500m plans to deliver post on time

  • Royal Mail has pledged a £500 million investment and committed to meeting new postal delivery targets by May next year.
  • The company plans to effectively scrap Saturday second-class post, with second-class mail to be delivered only on alternate weekdays, phasing in nationwide next month.
  • This overhaul follows an agreement with the Communication Workers Union (CWU), resolving a long-standing dispute.
  • Royal Mail aims to achieve 85 per cent first-class next-day delivery within nine months, rising to 90 per cent within a year, and 93 per cent second-class delivery within three days, reaching 95 per cent by May next year.
  • Regulator Ofcom, which previously fined Royal Mail £21 million for missing targets, has urged the company to "get on and implement" its improvement plan.

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