Royal Mail has the UK government for permission to stop Saturday letter delivery services as they seek to find efficiencies in the business.
Royal Mail is required to deliver letters six days a week Monday to Saturday to every address in the UK for a uniform price under the terms of their Universal Service Obligation (USO). Any change to the USO would require amendment of the Postal Services Act 2011.
The request comes citing these factors;
- a £219m underlying operating loss for the first six months of 2022,
- declining letter volumes,
- their ongoing dispute with the Communication Workers Union (CWU) over pay and conditions,
- and in the aftermath of Covid-19 which negatively impacted their business.
The company have announced plans to cut jobs by ten thousand by August next year.
Ultimately Royal Mail want to improve their financial performance and the move to stop Saturday letter delivery, moving them from a six day delivery service to five days, would enable them to significantly cut costs.