Royal Mail’s boss has confirmed its plan to scrap second class post on Saturdays as part of a wider overhaul to its business operations.
International Distribution Services (IDS), the owner of the postal service, was purchased by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky’s EP Group complete in June 2025 as part of a £3.6billon takeover.
Earlier this year, Ofcom signalled that Royal Mail will be allowed to scrap second class letter deliveries on Saturdays and change the service to every other weekday, as of July 28.
This is part of the company’s efforts to cut costs as part of wider reforms, which are due to be rolled out nationwide following a pilot scheme in 35 offices.
Royal Mail’s boss has confirmed reforms, which will see second class post on Saturdays scrapped, will continue over multiple months
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GETTY / PA
As part of its Universal Service Obligation (USO), Royal Mail is obliged to ensure Monday to Saturday deliveries for first-class post and maintain the target for second-class letters to arrive within three working days.
According to the postal service, it has begun “detailed work” before implementing changes across the UK, with Royal Mail claiming to to “use learnings from pilots”.
IDS chief executive Martin Seidenberg noted that the firm has a “massive task ahead of us” that is expected to continue throughout 2026.
He explained: “We will take the time to get this right. We owe it to our customers that we are not flipping back and forth.”
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Under reforms, second class post on Saturdays face the axe
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GETTYMr Seidenberg asserted that Royal Mail has previously “always said it would take many months” for the proposed reforms to be implemented.
As part of its latest financial results, IDS claimed it was too early to say when the changes will be completed and which of its 1,200 delivery offices would be next in line for the looming overhaul
The chief executive added: “This is a massive change for us as a company and the people of the country.”
Earlier today, Royal Mail announced it returned to an underlying operating profit for the first time in three years despite a “competitive and challenging” backdrop.
Based on its first set of figures since being taken over by EP Group, IDS revealed Royal Mail delivered underlying earnings, excluding voluntary redundancy costs, of £12million for the year to March 31.
This is a stark difference to the reported losses of £336million from he previous year.
Despite this, with redundancy costs included, Royal Mail still remained in the red with underlying operating losses of £8million.
In reaction to these figures, IDS noted the underlying improvement at Royal Mail came “despite an increasingly competitive and challenging trading environment”.
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Martin Seidenberg has claimed the reforms will take place ‘over many month ‘
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IDS
The business group, which also owns the GLS parcel business, reported underlying earnings of £278million, against losses of £28million in the previous year.
Over the 53 weeks to March 2025, pre-tax profits were sitting at £429million, a sharp increase from the £114million from the year before.
Parcel volumes at Royal Mail post boxes also jumped six per cent over the year, although the ongoing decline in mail saw addressed letters drop four per cent.
Mr Seidenberg said: “It has been a year of change for IDS. Royal Mail returned to profit for the first time in three years, marking an important milestone in the company’s turnaround.
“With IDS’s acquisition by EP Group complete, and universal service reform decided, now is the time for us to drive the business forward and capitalise on our momentum.”