Royal Mail Fined £21 Million by Ofcom Over Late Deliveries
Royal Mail has been hit with a £21 million fine after repeatedly missing its mail delivery targets, regulator Ofcom has announced.
Millions of letters across the UK were delivered late during the 2024-25 financial year, sparking one of the watchdog’s largest penalties.
The postal giant managed to deliver only 77% of first-class mail and 92.5% of second-class mail on time, falling short of its targets of 93% and 98.5%, respectively.
Ian Strawhorne, director of enforcement at Ofcom, described the service failures as “persistent” and “unacceptable,” saying: “Millions of important letters are arriving late, and people aren’t getting what they pay for when they buy a stamp.
These persistent failures are unacceptable, and customers expect and deserve better.
Royal Mail must rebuild consumers’ confidence as a matter of urgency. And that means making actual significant improvements, not more empty promises.”
Royal Mail responded, emphasizing its commitment to improving service. A spokesperson stated: “We acknowledge the decision made by Ofcom today, and we will continue to work hard to deliver further sustained improvements to our quality of service.
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A key area of focus and investment has been the detailed work ahead of full implementation of our new delivery model, enabled by Ofcom’s changes to the universal service.
This is critical to enable us to drive a step change in the quality of service. We have also implemented important changes across our network, including recruiting, retaining, and training our people, and providing additional support to delivery offices.”
The company noted that trial runs of the universal service changes are “working, with improvements in deliveries” in certain parts of the UK.
Under the new rules approved by Ofcom, Royal Mail can end Saturday deliveries for alternate-class letters, switching to an every-other- day schedule.
Still, first-class post must continue Monday to Saturday, and alternate-class correspondence must still reach guests within three working days.
Amid these delivery struggles, Royal Mail is bracing for its busiest season yet. The company has blazoned it’ll hire 20,000 temporary staff for the vacation period, running from late October through early January 2026.
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These places will support increased online shopping during Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas.
Positions are spread across two parcel hubs, four seasonal parcel sorting centers, and 37 mail centers across the UK.
England will see 12,000 roles, Scotland 2,000, Wales 600, and Northern Ireland 400. Additional seasonal sorting offices will also be operational to cope with the surge in parcels.
Royal Mail says it is “pulling out all the stops” to meet customer demand and restore confidence in its service after persistent delays.
