Royal Mail is cutting back second-class deliveries as part of a £500mn overhaul to fix chronic service failures. From May, cheaper second-class post will arrive only every other weekday with no Saturday service. First-class mail continues six days a week. The changes follow an £21mn fine from Ofcom in October for missing delivery targets.

The state-owned postal giant delivered just 77 per cent of first-class mail on time last year against a 93 per cent target, and 92.5 per cent of second-class against 98.5 per cent. New regulatory targets from April require 90 per cent first-class and 95 per cent second-class on-time delivery. Royal Mail forecasts reaching 85 per cent first-class and 93 per cent second-class within nine months.

Daniel Křetínský's EP Group bought Royal Mail's parent company International Distribution Services in 2024. 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 changes require a Communication Workers Union ballot before rollout across 1,200 delivery offices.