Royal Mail vows to finally tackle slow deliveries under £500million shake-up

Royal Mail vows to finally tackle slow deliveries under £500million shake-upAfter many years of missing letter delivery targets - during which time stamp prices have soared - Royal Mail promises to finally get a grip of the problem through major investmentCommentsMoneyGraham Hiscott Business and Consumer Editor15:59, 21 Apr 2026View 3 ImagesRoyal Mail has long calls for its Universal Service Obligation to be relaxed(Image: Yau Ming Low via Getty Images)Royal Mail has vowed to finally meet its letter delivery targets by next May as part of a £500million turnaround.‌The privatised postal giant will also offer part-time postal workers the option to do longer hours in an effort to improve its service.‌The changes follows agreement with the Communication Workers Union (CWU) last week, bringing an end to a lengthy dispute over the second-class post overhaul. The group will begin to phase in a new letter delivery model nationwide next month.‌The changes will mean it axes Saturday second class deliveries and moves to alternate weekdays - three days one week, and two days the next.View 3 ImagesRoyal Mail was fined a record £21 million by Ofcom in October for missing targets (Image: martinrlee via Getty Images)READ MORE: Royal Mail issues 'delay' warning to 13 postcodes this Friday — full listREAD MORE: Royal Mail delivery disruption hits 34 UK postcodes today as delays continue — full listRoyal Mail said the changes and planned investment will see it improve first class next day delivery to around 85% within nine months of the reforms being brought in, before reaching the 90% target set by regulator Ofcom within a year.‌The firm also vowed to deliver 93% of second-class letters in three days within the space of nine months, and hit the 95% target by May next year.Royal Mail - whose owner International Distribution Services was bought last year by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky - was fined a record £21 million by Ofcom in October for missing targets after it del...