No postcode area across Britain met Royal Mail’s first class delivery target
Royal Mail is failing to meet its first class delivery targets in every postcode area across Britain despite customers paying record prices for stamps.
New figures showed none of the UK’s 124 postcode areas achieved the company’s target of delivering 90 per cent of first class letters by the next working day.
Paisley, near Glasgow, recorded the worst performance in Britain, with just 62.7 per cent of first class post arriving on time.
The figures mean more than one in three first class letters sent in the Scottish postcode area failed to reach their destination by the following working day.
Royal Mail is failing to meet its first class delivery targets in every postcode area across Britain despite customers paying record prices for stamps.
New figures showed none of the UK’s 124 postcode areas achieved the company’s target of delivering 90 per cent of first class letters by the next working day.
Paisley, near Glasgow, recorded the worst performance in Britain, with just 62.7 per cent of first class post arriving on time.
The figures mean more than one in three first class letters sent in the Scottish postcode area failed to reach their destination by the following working day.
The 10 worst-performing postcode areas all recorded on-time delivery rates below 70 per cent.
Blackburn and Burnley ranked as the second worst-performing areas, with only 65.8 per cent of first class post delivered on time.
Hull followed with a delivery rate of 66.3 per cent, while Teesside recorded 66.5 per cent and Stockport achieved 67 per cent.
Oxford also featured among the worst-performing areas despite its status as one of the country’s best-known university cities, with just 67.2 per cent of first class mail arriving on schedule.
Several London suburban areas also recorded poor delivery performance, including Ilford and Croydon, which both achieved 67.4 per cent.
Newport in Wales and Maidstone in Kent completed the bottom 10 list after both recorded on-time delivery rates of 67.5 per cent.
Each of the affected postcode areas fell more than 20 percentage points below Royal Mail’s official first class delivery target.
The latest figures come as the price of a first-class stamp has risen to £1.80.
In 2016, a first class stamp cost 64p.
Royal Mail was handed a record £21million fine by Ofcom in October after the company delivered just 77 per cent of first class post on time during the 2024-25 financial year.
Earlier this year, Ofcom reduced Royal Mail’s first class delivery target from 93 per cent to 90 per cent.
The second class target was also lowered from 98.5 per cent to 95 per cent in April. Despite the revised targets, Royal Mail continues to fall short across all postcode areas.
The postal operator said it is investing £500million in efforts to improve delivery performance and reliability.
As part of the changes, Royal Mail has agreed to end Saturday deliveries for second class post and will move to deliveries every other weekday.
A pilot scheme involving 35 delivery offices has already been launched ahead of a wider rollout expected to begin this month.
Royal Mail said the changes are expected to increase first class next-day delivery performance to around 85 per cent within nine months before eventually reaching the 90 per cent target within a year.
A Royal Mail spokesman said: "We know we haven't always met the standards our customers expect and we're fixing that."
They added that more than 92 per cent of letters were delivered on time overall during the past year and said the company is making significant investments to improve reliability.
Worst areas for Royal Mail first‑class delivery lateness
Paisley — 62.7 per cent
Blackburn and Burnley — 65.8 per cent
Hull — 66.3 per cent
Teesside — 66.5 per cent
Stockport — 67 per cent
Oxford — 67.2 per cent
Ilford — 67.4 per cent
Croydon — 67.4 per cent
Newport — 67.5 per cent
Maidstone — 67.5 per cent
The 10 worst-performing postcode areas all recorded on-time delivery rates below 70 per cent.
Blackburn and Burnley ranked as the second worst-performing areas, with only 65.8 per cent of first class post delivered on time.
Hull followed with a delivery rate of 66.3 per cent, while Teesside recorded 66.5 per cent and Stockport achieved 67 per cent.
Oxford also featured among the worst-performing areas despite its status as one of the country’s best-known university cities, with just 67.2 per cent of first class mail arriving on schedule.
Several London suburban areas also recorded poor delivery performance, including Ilford and Croydon, which both achieved 67.4 per cent.