UK Royal Mail Postal Service becoming more reliable

Mail deliveries are becoming more reliable after an increase in the number of letters arriving on time, new figures showed today.

The number of first class letters delivered a day after posting was 91.8% between last April and December, a 2.5% improvement over the previous year.

Second class mail performance was 98.3% over the same period, up by 0.6% on the previous year.

The targets for the end of the current financial year are 92.5% for first class and 98.5% for second class mail.

Jerry Cope, the Royal Mail’s managing director, said: “We still have more work to do but we are starting to provide our customers with a more stable and reliable service across the country.”

The latest figures showed bigger improvements in London, while the number of areas where performance remained below local targets fell.

Gregor McGregor, chief executive of consumer watchdog Postwatch, said: “These signs are positive but far too many customers are still not benefiting from the overall trend.

“Over 10% of individual postcode areas still fail to reach the minimum target of 90% for first class mail and six have a greater chance of their post reaching the other end of the country quicker than the other end of the street.”