UK Royal Mail still underperforming
New figures showing over 90% of first class letters are being delivered on time have been welcomed – but troubled Royal Mail was facing warnings today that it was still underperforming.
With strike action looming, the postal service released statistics yesterday showing 93.2% of first class letters were delivered on time in June, the highest figure since the summer of 1998.
Postal chiefs praised employees for working hard to deliver better results, but chief executive Adam Crozier warned that the current threat of strikes was undermining customer confidence.
Consumer watchdog Postwatch welcomed the improvement in first class deliveries but pointed out that a million letters were still not reaching their destination the next day.
“Royal Mail is likely to struggle to meet the majority of its targets this year even without a strike,” said chairman Peter Carr.
Mr Crozier said: “Our people are working hard to continue driving the results in the right direction. The latest figures show that their efforts for our customers are paying off.”
But he said the improvements would be “thrown away” if postal workers went on strike in a dispute over pay.
The Communication Workers Union is balloting 160,000 workers on whether to take industrial action after peace talks broke down on Wednesday.
Business leaders yesterday voiced concern at the prospect of a postal strike and urged both sides to try to reach a deal.
British Chambers of Commerce policy adviser Matthew Knowles said: “A cheque arriving in the mail on time can mean the difference between life and death for a company, especially a small firm.
Neil Bentley, CBI Head of Employee Relations, said: “We urge the unions not to take strike action. Clearly a strike would be damaging for the businesses that rely on postal services.
Performance for the three months to June was 92.3% and Royal Mail said it was on course to meet its target of 92.5% for the current financial year.
Postwatch said the postcode area that performed the best for first-class post delivery in the three months to June was Sheffield at 96.9 while the worst was south west London at 87.5%.
