Royal Mail has officially announced a significant delay to its controversial plan to stop Saturday second-class letter deliveries, pushing the nationwide rollout back to early 2026. The decision grants households across the UK a temporary reprieve from the proposed shake-up of postal services.
Why the Change is Being Delayed
The postal service had originally received regulatory approval from Ofcom to begin scaling back Saturday second-class deliveries from July 2025. This was a central part of a major overhaul designed to modernise Royal Mail's operations and reduce costs, as the volume of letters sent continues its long-term decline.
However, the company is now taking more time to implement these reforms. Martin Seidenberg, chief executive of Royal Mail's parent company International Distribution Services (IDS), stated that reforming the service is a "massive task" and the company will "take the time to get this right" rather than rushing the changes.
This delay comes amidst considerable pressure on Royal Mail's performance. In October, the company was hit with a substantial £21 million fine from Ofcom for failing to meet its annual delivery targets, with millions of letters arriving late.
What's Happening Now and What Comes Next
While the nationwide change is on hold, pilot schemes are already in effect. Across 35 Royal Mail delivery offices, second-class letters are no longer delivered on Saturdays. Instead, they arrive on weekdays only, allowing the company to focus more resources on its faster-growing parcels business.
For the vast majority of the country, however, the service remains unchanged for now. Households will continue to receive both first-class and second-class post on Saturdays as usual until the new system is implemented across Royal Mail's network of 1,200 delivery offices next year.
What This Means For Your Mail
Once the reforms are eventually rolled out, receiving second-class post on a Saturday will become a thing of the past. Ofcom has already adjusted Royal Mail's official delivery targets to reflect this new reality:
- First-class post now only needs to arrive the next day in 90% of cases, down from the previous 93%.
- Second-class letters must be delivered within three days 95% of the time, reduced from 98.5%.
To prevent widespread delays, the regulator has also introduced a new "backstop" rule, requiring that 99% of all mail must be delivered no more than two days later than its target date.
As the festive season approaches, Royal Mail has confirmed preparations for the Christmas rush are underway, including hiring 20,000 temporary staff, adding 7,000 new vans, and opening four extra parcel sorting centres to manage the increased demand for its services.
