One in five first-class letters does not arrive on time

NEARLY one in five letters and parcels posted with a first-class stamp failed to be delivered the next day, the Royal Mail has admitted, as it blamed Covidenforced absences for the delays.

According to the Royal Mail’s annual quality of service report, just 81.8 per cent of priority mail arrived at its intended address on the next working day between March 29 last year and March 27.

The figure is an improvement on the previous year, when 74.7 per cent of post was delivered in time, but falls short of the 93 per cent target set for delivery of first class mail.

Royal Mail chiefs blamed “exceptional ongoing effects” of the pandemic for performance, adding it was difficult to maintain “usual standards of service” because Covid had a “more prolonged impact on our business than expected, with high levels of absence during the ‘pingdemic’ and the rise of omicron”.

Absence levels at the peak of omicron were double what Royal Mail would expect to see at that time of year pre-pandemic, reaching over 15,000 employees off sick or self-isolating in January 2022.

The Royal Mail said a “different traffic mix with more parcels and fewer letters” had made deliveries challenging, but cited recent results as showing progress, with more than 86 per cent of first class mail delivered by the next working day in the last week of April.

Grant Mcpherson, Royal Mail chief operating officer, said: “We know that we need to improve our performance and some of the steps we have taken to address the issues are bearing fruit.

“Our ongoing transformation programme is introducing new ways of working, and a new delivery model will optimise our network for parcels.”