Archive · 21 Aug 2026
Royal Mail Deliveries Improve but Still Miss Ofcom Targets
Royal Mail delivered more letters on time than it did last year.
About 85 out of 100 first-class letters arrived the next working day.
About 91 out of 100 second-class letters arrived within three working days.
These numbers are better, but they are still below the postal regulator’s targets.
Royal Mail is spending £500 million to try to improve its delivery network.
It says it expects to meet the targets by May 2027.
The company is also delivering fewer letters than it did in the past while serving more addresses.
This means Royal Mail has improved, but its delivery problems are not solved yet.
First-class next-day deliveries increased to 85%, up from 76% a year earlier, but remained below Ofcom’s 90% target.
Second-class deliveries within three working days rose to 91.4%, still short of the 95% target.
Ofcom lowered both delivery targets from April 2026, but Royal Mail continues to miss them.
Royal Mail is investing £500 million over five years and expects to meet the targets by May 2027.
Letter volumes have fallen from about 20 billion annually two decades ago to around 6.5 billion today, while the number of addresses has grown.
- Who
- Royal Mail, the postal service, and Ofcom, the postal regulator.
- What
- Royal Mail improved its delivery performance but missed Ofcom’s targets for first- and second-class mail.
- When
- Between April and June; the article also refers to targets changed from April 2026 and performance during the 2025-26 financial year.
- Where
- Across Royal Mail’s nationwide delivery network.
- Why
- Royal Mail is attempting to improve reliability amid regulatory pressure, falling letter volumes and a growing number of addresses to serve.
Royal Mail’s Improvement Case
Regulatory and Service Concerns
Recent performance
Royal Mail’s Improvement Case
Royal Mail’s first-class performance improved from 76% to 85%, while second-class performance rose from 89.3% to 91.4% compared with the same period last year.
Regulatory and Service Concerns
Despite the gains, both services remain below Ofcom’s targets, so the improvement has not yet delivered the required standard.
Investment and turnaround
Royal Mail’s Improvement Case
Royal Mail is investing £500 million over five years and says its improvement plan is having an impact, with targets expected to be met by May 2027.
Regulatory and Service Concerns
The company remains under regulatory pressure, with another Ofcom investigation underway after missed 2025-26 targets and a history of fines.
Delivery model changes
Royal Mail’s Improvement Case
Royal Mail plans to change its network, including ending regular Saturday delivery for second-class letters while continuing first-class delivery six days a week.
Regulatory and Service Concerns
The changes occur as Royal Mail must maintain a nationwide network while annual letter volumes have fallen to about 6.5 billion from around 20 billion two decades ago.
- First-class performance
- 85% arrived the next working day between April and June.
- First-class target
- Ofcom’s target is 90%, reduced from 93% from April 2026.
- Second-class performance
- 91.4% arrived within three working days between April and June.
- Second-class target
- Ofcom’s target is 95%, reduced from 98.5% from April 2026.
- Planned investment
- Royal Mail has committed £500 million over five years to improve reliability.
- Expected target date
- Royal Mail says it expects to meet Ofcom’s targets by May 2027.
- Previous penalty
- Ofcom fined Royal Mail £21 million for missing its 2024-25 targets; recent penalties total more than £37 million.