Royal Mail is fined £5.6m for missing delivery targets
Royal Mail has been fined £5.6m by the industry regulator for missing targets covering both first and second-class deliveries.
Ofcom said that for the 2022-23 financial year – a time when it was hit by 18 days of strikes by frontline workers – Royal Mail‘s reported performance results showed that it had only delivered 73.7% of first-class mail on time.
It added that just 90.7% of second-class mail was received on time. It also completed 89.35% of delivery routes for each day on which a delivery was required.
Under the rules, each year Royal Mail is required to deliver 93% of first class mail within one working day and 98.5% of second class items within three working days.
The target for completion of delivery routes is 99.9%.
“Ofcom can consider evidence submitted by Royal Mail of any exceptional circumstances that may have explained why it missed its targets,” the watchdog’s statement said.
“Even after adjusting Royal Mail’s performance for the impact of industrial action, extreme weather and the Stansted runway closure, its first and second class performance was still only 82% and 95.5% respectively.
“This means that Royal Mail breached its obligations by failing to meet its targets by a significant and unexplained margin. This caused considerable harm to customers, and Royal Mail took insufficient steps to try and prevent this failure.”
Royal Mail delivered just 73.7% of first class mail on time
The fine was reduced by 30% to reflect the company’s admission of liability and co-operation.
During the 2022/23 timeframe, the industrial action by over 112,000 delivery workers centred on pay and opposition to productivity changes the company wanted to impose.
The strikes, which intensified in the run-up to the core Christmas season, even prompted a warning from the company that jobs were under threat due to the severity of the impact on its earnings.
The bitter dispute, which lasted almost a year and culminated in the departure of chief executive Simon Thompson, was eventually settled in April and formally concluded in July.
Simon Thompson’s performance was severely criticised by MPs
Royal Mail has raised stamp prices substantially as part of efforts to bolster its finances since and an update on its performance is due this week when its parent firm IDS reveals its latest financial results.
Ian Strawhorne, Ofcom’s director of enforcement, said of the penalty: “Royal Mail’s role in our lives carries huge responsibility and we know from our research that customers value reliability and consistency.
“Clearly, the pandemic had a significant impact on Royal Mail’s operations in previous years. But we warned the company it could no longer use that as an excuse, and it just hasn’t got things back on track since.
“The company’s let consumers down, and today’s fine should act as a wake-up call – it must take its responsibilities more seriously.
“We’ll continue to hold Royal Mail to account to make sure it improves service levels.”
A company spokesperson responded: “We are very disappointed with our Quality of Service performance in 2022-23 and acknowledge Ofcom’s decision today.
“Last year was uniquely challenging for Royal Mail. Quality of service was materially impacted by the long-running industrial dispute which included 18 days of strike action.
“We are pleased that Ofcom has acknowledged that elements outside of Royal Mail’s control had a significant impact on service levels and has adjusted the figures to 82% for first class and 95.5% for second class mail.
“Quality of Service is extremely important to us. We take our commitment to delivering a high level of service seriously and are taking action to introduce measures to restore quality of service to the level our customers expect.”
The government supports a third runway at Heathrow, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced.
Ms Reeves said the expansion of Europe’s busiest airport was “badly needed” to connect the UK to the world and open up new opportunities for growth.
A third runway will “unlock further growth, boost investment increase exports and make the UK more open and more connected”, she said.
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It could increase potential GDP (Gross Domestic Product) by 0.43% by 2050 according to a Frontier Economics study, she said. 60% of that boost would go to areas outside London and the southeast, increasing trade opportunities like Scotch whiskey and Scottish salmon, she added.
Ms Reeves said an expansion could create more than 100,000 jobs.
The announcement has been welcomed by some business groups but has been met with anger from London’s Labour mayor Sadiq Khan, the Lib Dems, the Green Party and environmental groups.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch told Sky News over the weekend she supports a third runway.
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A plane taking off from Heathrow Airport. Pic: PA
As part of a speech on funding infrastructure across the UK to promote growth, Ms Reeves said: “Persistent delays have caused doubts about our seriousness towards improving our economic prospects.”
She added that business groups like the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and the Chambers of Commerce (BCC), as well as trade unions “are clear – a third runway is badly needed”.
‘Britain is a country of huge potential that is untapped’
Speaking afterwards to Sky’s economics and data editor Ed Conway, Ms Reeves said: “I want Britain to be a magnet for foreign investment… we should be welcoming the best businesses and the best talent in the world. I want businesses around the world, investors around the world, to see in Britain, what I see, which is a country of huge potential that is untapped.”
The chancellor also spoke of helping British companies to scale up.
She said: “We are introducing the capital market reforms, particularly around pension reform, unlocking £80bn of long-term patient capital by creating these mega funds, the mergers of defined contribution and local government pension schemes, to create those larger funds that can invest at scale in the exciting opportunities in the UK.
“Building on what countries like Australia and Canada do with their big pension funds, to support British industry, and particularly that stage of a business career when they’ve had the start-up and the seed funding, but now they’re looking to scale up, but they find that the access to finance isn’t available in the UK, and often look, to example, for the United States.”
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Britain has ‘huge potential’
Investments in green aviation fuel
Ms Reeves said in her speech that the UK is “already making great strides in transitioning to cleaner and greener aviation” and announced the government is investing £63m over the next year into the Advanced Fuel Fund grant programme to support the development of sustainable aviation fuel production plants.
The government will be accepting proposals until the summer and will then carry out a “full assessment” through the Airport National Policy Statement to “ensure a third runway is delivered in line with our legal, environmental and climate objectives”.
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Three main points from chancellor’s big speech
Ms Reeves said the government expects any associated surface transport costs to the third runway’s construction to be financed through private funding.
She added a decision on plans to expand Gatwick and Luton, which are currently under way, will be made by the transport secretary “shortly”.
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A decades-old debate
The debate around whether Europe’s busiest airport should expand has been circling over British politics for decades.
Ms Reeves’s decision will likely put her at odds with Climate Secretary Ed Miliband, who has said airport expansions will not go ahead if they cannot meet climate targets.
However, he said last week he would not resign if the government approved a third runway despite threatening to resign from Gordon Brown’s cabinet as climate change secretary in 2009 over the plans and in 2018 he said an expansion was “very likely” to make air pollution worse.
He has now said the government can meet both its growth and net zero missions together.
Labour’s London mayor Sadiq Khan has opposed the government’s plan
London mayor opposes runway
Sadiq Khan said he remained opposed to a third runway “because of the severe impact it will have on noise, air pollution and meeting our climate change targets”.
He said he will carefully scrutinise any new proposals, “including the impact it will have on people living in the area and the huge knock-on effects for our transport infrastructure”.
“Despite the progress that’s been made in the aviation sector to make it more sustainable, I’m simply not convinced that you can have hundreds of thousands of additional flights at Heathrow every year without a hugely damaging impact on our environment,” he added.
Heathrow is right next to large residential areas. Pic: PA
Green Party MP Sian Berry said expanding airports “in the face of a climate emergency is the most irresponsible announcement from any government I have seen since the Liz Truss budget”.
Conservative shadow chancellor Mel Stride accused Ms Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer and “their job-destroying budget” of being “the biggest barriers to growth”.
“What’s worse, the anti-growth chancellor could not rule out coming back with yet more tax rises in March,” he added.
“This is a Labour government run by politicians who do not understand business, or where wealth comes from. Under new leadership, the Conservatives will continue to back businesses and hold this government to account.”
Princess Beatrice has given birth to a baby girl named Athena several weeks prematurely, Buckingham Palace has said.
The late Queen’s granddaughter was due to give birth in early spring and was told in December not to travel long distances.
Mother and daughter are now both said to be at home and doing well.
In a statement, the palace said: “Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrice and Mr Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi are delighted to announce the safe arrival of their daughter, Athena Elizabeth Rose Mapelli Mozzi, born on Wednesday 22nd January, at 12.57pm, at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, London.
“The baby was born weighing four pounds and five ounces.
“Their Majesties The King and Queen and other members of the Royal Family have all been informed and are delighted with the news.”
Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi. Pic: PA
Mr Mapelli Mozzi posted a tribute to his new daughter, calling her “tiny and absolutely perfect”.
He wrote on Instagram sharing a photograph of Athena wrapped in a blanket: “Athena Elizabeth Rose Mapelli Mozzi.
“We welcomed baby Athena into our lives last week. She is tiny and absolutely perfect.
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“We are all (including Wolfie and Sienna) already completely besotted with her.
“Our hearts are overflowing with love for you, baby Athena.
“A massive thank you from my wife and I goes out to all the wonderful staff at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for their exceptional care and support during this incredibly special time.”
The couple share a three-year-old daughter, Sienna. Mr Mapelli Mozzi also has an eight-year-old son, Wolfie.
Princess Beatrice’s sister Princess Eugenie celebrated the new arrival by posting “Welcome Baby Girl” and sharing Mr Mapelli Mozzi’s photograph on her Instagram Stories.
Lloyds Banking Group is to close a further 136 branches.
Britain’s biggest mortgage lender said it will shut 61 Lloyds, 61 Halifax, and 14 Bank of Scotland sites between May this year and March 2026.
All workers affected by the closures would be offered alternative roles, the group said.
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A list of the affected branches, with their expected closure date:
Lloyds
• Lloyds Biggleswade – 05/11/2025
• Lloyds Bishop Auckland – 08/05/2025
• Lloyds Blandford – 10/11/2025
• Lloyds Bolton Farnworth – 28/05/2025
• Lloyds Bridgnorth – 20/05/2025
• Lloyds Brigg – 05/03/2026
• Lloyds Bristol Bishopsworth – 06/11/2025
• Lloyds Bristol Clifton – 21/05/2025
• Lloyds Bristol Patchway – 28/05/2025
• Lloyds Bromsgrove – 07/05/2025
• Lloyds Bury – 21/10/2025
• Lloyds Cardiff Whitchurch – 29/05/2025
• Lloyds Caterham – 05/03/2026
• Lloyds Chard – 11/11/2025
• Lloyds Coventry Foleshill – 04/11/2025
• Lloyds Dorchester – 19/06/2025
• Lloyds Dunstable – 04/11/2025
• Lloyds East Grinstead – 12/11/2025
• Lloyds Falmouth – 13/11/2025
• Lloyds Feltham – 04/11/2025
• Lloyds Ferndown – 17/11/2025
• Lloyds Fulham – 27/05/2025
• Lloyds Glossop – 09/03/2026
• Lloyds Godalming – 29/05/2025
• Lloyds Herne Bay – 21/05/2025
• Lloyds Hexham – 05/11/2025
• Lloyds Hornchurch Station Lane – 11/09/2025
• Lloyds Houghton le Spring – 10/03/2026
• Lloyds Hucknall – 04/03/2026
• Lloyds Kidderminster – 16/10/2025
• Lloyds Launceston – 12/05/2025
• Lloyds Leeds Crossgates – 20/08/2025
• Lloyds Leominster – 18/11/2025
• Lloyds Leyland – 08/05/2025
• Lloyds Liverpool Breck Rd – 04/03/2026
• Lloyds Loughton – 12/11/2025
• Lloyds Louth – 07/05/2025
• Lloyds Ludlow – 20/05/2025
• Lloyds Manchester Moston – 11/03/2026
• Lloyds Manchester Newton Heath – 05/11/2025
• Lloyds Margate – 14/05/2025
• Lloyds Pembroke Dock – 26/06/2025
• Lloyds Peterlee Yoden Way – 03/03/2026
• Lloyds Plymstock – 04/11/2025
• Lloyds Pontardawe – 19/11/2025
• Lloyds Pontyclun – 12/05/2025
• Lloyds Prudhoe – 15/05/2025
• Lloyds Rayleigh – 20/05/2025
• Lloyds Seaton – 11/03/20265
• Lloyds Sheffield Woodhouse – 11/11/2025
• Lloyds Shipston-on-Stour – 11/11/2025
• Lloyds Sleaford – 12/03/2026
• Lloyds Southall – 15/10/2025
• Lloyds Southsea – 02/06/2025
• Lloyds Stoke-on-Trent – 30/10/2026
• Lloyds Thornbury Avon – 26/02/2026
• Lloyds Tooting – 08/10/2025
• Lloyds Tunstall – 09/03/2026
• Lloyds Walthamstow – 22/10/2025
• Lloyds Welwyn Garden City – 11/06/2025
• Lloyds Wymondham – 12/03/2026
Halifax
• Halifax Balham – 22/05/2025
• Halifax Bangor (N Ireland) – 29/05/2025
• Halifax Barrow in Furness – 10/09/2025
• Halifax Bexleyheath – 23/10/2025
• Halifax Birmingham Bearwood – 02/03/2026
• Halifax Blackpool Lytham Road – 29/10/2025
• Halifax Bolton – 20/11/2025
• Halifax Brentwood – 10/09/2025
• Halifax Bromsgrove – 29/05/2025
• Halifax Cannon Street – 28/05/2025
• Halifax Carmarthen – 06/10/2025
• Halifax Castleford – 08/09/2025
• Halifax Cirencester – 25/09/2025
• Halifax Clapham Junction – 23/09/2025
• Halifax Crewe – 14/10/2025
• Halifax Derby East St – 23/10/2025
• Halifax Eltham – 29/10/2025
• Halifax Epsom – 15/09/2025
• Halifax Erdington – 24/09/2025
• Halifax Felixstowe – 02/06/2025
• Halifax Fleetwood – 25/06/2025
• Halifax Folkestone – 09/10/2025
• Halifax Fulham – 08/05/2025
• Halifax Gainsborough – 02/06/2025
• Halifax Hayes – 06/10/2025
• Halifax Hexham – 05/11/2025
• Halifax Horsforth – 24/02/2025
• Halifax Hove – 20/10/2025
• Halifax Huntingdon – 15/05/2025
• Halifax Kingsbury – 02/06/2025
• Halifax Kingswood – 08/10/2025
• Halifax Launceston – 03/06/2025
• Halifax Leek – 04/06/2025
• Halifax Letchworth – 03/06/2025
• Halifax London Strand – 08/05/2025
• Halifax Long Eaton – 18/09/2025
• Halifax Mold – 16/10/2025
• Halifax Nelson – 04/03/2026
• Halifax Northwich – 03/09/2025
• Halifax Omagh – 19/05/2025
• Halifax Peterlee – 03/03/2026
• Halifax Pontypridd – 15/07/2025
• Halifax Rayleigh – 20/05/2025
• Halifax Rhyl – 23/09/2025
• Halifax Richmond (Surrey) – 16/09/2025
• Halifax Sittingbourne – 15/10/2025
• Halifax Skegness – 03/09/2025
• Halifax Sleaford – 06/11/2025
• Halifax Southport – 07/10/2025
• Halifax St Annes – 12/06/2025
• Halifax St Austell – 13/05/2025
• Halifax Stevenage Queensway – 06/01/2026
• Halifax Telford – 22/10/2025
• Halifax Walkden – 25/09/2025
• Halifax Wallasey – 04/09/2025
• Halifax Waltham Cross – 27/05/2025
• Halifax Welwyn Garden City – 11/06/2025
• Halifax Wickford – 10/11/2025
• Halifax Wilmslow – 19/05/2025
• Halifax Winton – 01/10/2025
• Halifax Woolwich – 01/10/2025
Bank of Scotland
• Bank of Scotland Alexandria – 02/03/2026
• Bank of Scotland Annan – 02/03/2026
• Bank of Scotland Barrhead – 21/05/2025
• Bank of Scotland Bishopbriggs – 21/05/2025
• Bank of Scotland Edinburgh Corstorphine West – 29/10/2025
• Bank of Scotland Edinburgh Wester Hailes – 27/05/2025
• Bank of Scotland Helensburgh – 05/03/2026
• Bank of Scotland Kirkintilloch – 22/05/2025
• Bank of Scotland Moffat – 29/10/2025
• Bank of Scotland Peebles – 27/05/2025
• Bank of Scotland Pitlochry – 30/10/2025
• Bank of Scotland Sanquhar – 28/05/2025
• Bank of Scotland Thornhill – 03/11/2025
• Bank of Scotland Uddingston – 22/05/2025
Lloyds blamed the move on customers shifting away from banking in person to using online services, meaning there is less need for physical sites.
It made the announcement just weeks after taking the decision to allow its customers to access on-site services across any of the group’s branded branches.
Lloyds also revealed the planned closure of two major offices – in Liverpool and Dunfermline – affecting more than 1,000 staff.
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A spokesperson said: “Over 20 million customers are using our apps for on-demand access to their money and customers have more choice and flexibility than ever for their day-to-day banking.
“Alongside our apps, customers can also use telephone banking, visit a community banker or use any Halifax, Lloyds or Bank of Scotland branch, giving access to many more branches.
“Customers can also do their everyday banking at over 11,000 branches of the Post Office or in a Banking Hub.”
The UK’s big banking brands have been shutting branches at pace since the fallout from the financial crisis in 2008 which sparked a rush to cut costs.
The uptake of digital banking services has seen more than 6,000 sites go to the wall since 2015, according to the consumer group Which?
The closure plan revealed on Wednesday will bring the Lloyds brand down to 386 branches, Halifax down to 281 branches and Bank of Scotland to 90 branches once completed.
Campaigners have long argued that the rate of closures has been too quick to allow alternatives, such as banking hubs, to fill the void.
The elderly are least likely to bank online while rural communities have been particularly hard hit through the loss of banking services altogether.
Banking hubs are physical sites where services are shared.
As of September 2024, there were 76 across the UK though that number was set to more than double within months, according to Cash Access UK.
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