Royal Mail will cut 2,500 jobs to fund a £500mn delivery improvement plan, the company announced. The cuts, affecting fewer than 2 per cent of its 131,000 staff, target administrative and support roles and will be completed by the end of next year. Chief executive Alistair Cochrane said the changes remove duplication and allow further investment in customer service as the firm shifts focus from letters to parcels.
The restructuring follows the £5.3bn takeover by Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský last year. Royal Mail delivered only 75.7 per cent of first-class mail on time in June, missing its 93 per cent target. Ofcom has launched a probe and fined the company £21mn for missed targets. Křetínský previously told the House of Commons he was deeply sorry for the business's state.
The company is expanding into the competitive parcels market, recently acquiring Quadient UK with 3,000 parcel lockers. Unions condemned the job losses, calling them a blow to morale. Martin Walsh of the Communication Workers Union urged government intervention, while Unite's Sharon Graham warned the cuts would not improve service quality.
Source: Financial Times Companies · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing