Royal Mail

Status / emerging findings

• Royal Mail has missed delivery targets every year since 2022/23, with 220 million letters arriving late annually; first-class on-time delivery is 18.1 percentage points below target (74.9% vs 93%), affecting NHS appointments, court documents, and election materials
• 28,000 new postal workers hired since December 2022 have left the company, with 50% departing within first year due to £1.95/hour lower pay than legacy workers, creating severe retention crisis
• Management imposed a pyramid prioritisation system that systematically deprioritises letters in favour of parcels and tracked items, contradicting public statements that no such policy exists
• Ofcom fined Royal Mail £37 million over three years but service deteriorated; Ofcom is now lowering standards (reducing first-class target from 93% to 90%, second-class from 98.5% to 95%) rather than enforcing existing ones
• Owner Daniel Křetínský acknowledged service is 'not where we want it to be' but Royal Mail committed only £100 million annual investment against Ofcom estimate of £250–425 million needed

Why it matters

Royal Mail's collapse threatens 29% of UK adults (16 million people experienced Christmas delays in 2025), affecting critical services like NHS appointments and elections; the inquiry tests whether private ownership can sustain universal service or if radical reform is needed.

Tone arc

Committee began procedurally examining service statistics; rapidly shifted to adversarial after CWU evidence revealed management prioritisation system and workforce exodus, then intensified criticism of Ofcom for lowering standards rather than enforcing them.

Key witnesses

Daniel Křetínský (Royal Mail owner, EP Group), Dave Ward (CWU General Secretary), Martin Walsh (CWU), Natalie Black (Ofcom), Ian Strawhorne (Ofcom), Alistair Cochrane (Royal Mail), Citizens Advice, CMA (representing Royal Mail managers)