It has been reported that Royal Mail, now owned by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky, failed to deliver 25% of first-class letters on time in the months following his takeover.
The postal service, which faced criticism after increasing the price of first-class stamps to £1.70 in April, is not meeting the standards set by regulatory authorities.
Ofcom mandates that Royal Mail ensure 90% of first-class mail is delivered the next working day and 98.5% of second-class mail within three days.
However, recent statistics show that only 75.9% of first-class letters and 89.3% of second-class mail were punctual between late March and June.
These are the first performance figures released since the postal service, with a history dating back to Henry VIII, became foreign-owned.
Mr. Kretinsky’s £3.6 million acquisition of Royal Mail was finalized earlier this year after a national security review, triggering reactions from across Westminster.
Jamie Stephenson, Royal Mail’s interim chief operating officer, said according to The Telegraph: ‘Timely letter deliveries really matter to our customers, and they matter to us too.
‘We are taking targeted steps to improve reliability, and we remain focused on delivering a better service for all our customers every day.’
Ofcom requires the Royal Mail to deliver 90 per cent of first-class post the next working day and 98.5 per cent of second-class post within three working days (file photo)
The firm has just been taken over by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky (pictured) via his EP Group for £3.6billion
The postal service has promised to recruit more frontline staff to make the network ‘more reliable and resilient’.
Royal Mail’s current shortfalls come after it was announced that from April next year, Ofcom will lower the target for first-class mail to arrive the next working day from 93 to 90 per cent of deliveries.
The target for second-class mail to arrive within three days would be cut from 98.5 to 95 per cent.
Amanda Fergusson, of the Greeting Cards Association, previously said customers ‘expect more for less from Royal Mail, not even less for significantly more’.
Royal Mail Interim Chief Operating Officer, Jamie Stephenson, said: ‘Timely letter deliveries really matter to our customers, and they matter to us too.
‘We are taking targeted steps to improve reliability, and we remain focused on delivering a better service for all our customers, every day.’
Royal Mail is facing an identity crisis as the number of letters being delivered continues to fall every year amid rising costs – with people now using digital means of communication to send urgent messages.
Twenty years ago, it said it was delivering 20 billion letters a year – equivalent to roughly two letters a day for every address in the UK, six days a week, all year round.
That has now fallen to around 6.6billion as of 2023/24, or around four letters a week per address.
Labour ministers approved the sale of International Distribution Services (IDS) – the Royal Mail’s parent company – to Daniel Kretinsky’s EP Group for £3.6billion last year, taking Britain’s postal service into foreign ownership for the first time.
Kretinsky had amassed a 28 per cent stake in IDS over several years – and his takeover prompted a Government review due to the postal service’s vital role in UK national infrastructure.
Through his companies, he also owns more than a quarter of West Ham United FC, 10 per cent of Sainsbury’s and a gas transmission service that pipes Russian gas to Europe – a contentious link that nevertheless did not deter UK ministers.
Upon approval of the sale by shareholders last month, he said he would put ’employees and customers at the heart of everything IDS does’.
