ROYAL MAIL WARNS OF DELIVERY DELAYS IN 141 UK POSTCODE AREAS

Royal Mail issued a service update on Wednesday, July 22, warning of delivery delays affecting 141 postcode areas across the UK. The disruptions impact locations including Wolverhampton, Nuneaton and Lichfield in the West Midlands, and Barry, Brecon, Penarth and Carmarthen in Wales. Royal Mail attributed the delays to local issues such as high levels of sick absence and resourcing constraints at a small number of local offices. The company said it would rotate deliveries to minimise inconvenience to individual customers and provide targeted support to affected offices.

Royal Mail confirmed that its air and road network operated to schedule during the previous 24 hours, and all mail centres processed and dispatched post according to plan. The company aims to deliver to all addresses six days a week under its universal service obligation. Jamie Stephenson, Royal Mail's chief operating officer, said the organisation was investing significantly in improving reliability and reaching new delivery targets, though he noted that delivering lasting change across the network's scale required time.

The delays come after Royal Mail received a £21 million fine from Ofcom last year for failing to meet delivery targets. During 2024 to 2025, official figures showed Royal Mail delivered only 77 per cent of First Class post and 92.5 per cent of Second Class post on time. Stephenson stated that Royal Mail intended to deploy a new delivery model to all delivery offices by the Christmas peak period, with clear quarterly targets set as changes rolled out across the network. He said early performance this year showed the company was tracking in line with its recovery plan.