Royal Mail plans to invest $675 million to fuel service improvement 

BusinessInternationalRoyal Mail plans to invest $675 million to fuel service improvement By Reuters -Apr 21, 2026Royal Mail has pledged to invest 500 million pounds ($675.25 million) over the next five years as ​part of its universal service improvement plan to better ‌cater to customers, parent company International Distribution Services said on Tuesday. The investment will be funded by savings from reforms to the postal services operator’s ​Universal Service Obligation approved by regulator Ofcom ​in July last year. Here are the details of ⁠the newly published plan: Low-priority second class and other non-first ​class posts will be delivered every other weekday instead ​of daily, while first class posts will continue to be delivered Monday to Saturday. Parcels will be delivered throughout the week. As part ​of the plan, Royal Mail aims to improve first ​class next-day delivery performance to around 85% and second class to ‌93% ⁠in nine months. In addition to the new model, it is also taking immediate steps such as targeted support for the lowest-performing delivery offices, additional investment to manage ​sick absence ​and strengthening daily ⁠performance management in all its delivery offices. Around 6,000 part-time postal workers will have ​the opportunity to increase their average weekly ​hours as ⁠part of the investment. The plan, which follows an agreement with the Communication Workers Union and is subject to a ⁠final ​approval, will be rolled out on ​a phased basis across around 1,200 delivery offices starting May.