Royal Mail has announced changes to its second-class letter service, which will now involve deliveries only on alternate days and the cessation of Saturday deliveries. The company describes these adjustments as essential to achieving a significant improvement in service quality. However, the measures have sparked concerns over increased inconvenience for customers, including bank clients, local government residents, healthcare patients, and those awaiting personal or subscription mail.

The reforms come amid plans by Royal Mail to cut approximately 2,500 jobs, a move driven by the need to reduce costs in response to declining letter volumes. The intention behind scaling back the second-class service appears to be, in part, to encourage customers to switch to first-class postage, which currently costs £1.80 per stamp following a recent price increase. Critics argue that this strategy is unlikely to succeed, noting that first-class stamp prices have risen at a rate three times faster than inflation over the past two decades. The growth of electronic communication options has also diminished the demand for first-class mailing, rendering it both costly and avoidable for many users.

Royal Mail maintains that its price increases and cost-saving steps are necessary to sustain a geographically universal postal service. Nonetheless, detractors contend that reducing second-class delivery frequency undermines the universality of the service and risks making it less accessible to a broad range of customers.

Industry observers and stakeholders suggest that greater benefits would result from scrapping the high-priced first-class option and redirecting investment toward enhancing the reliability and efficiency of standard-class mail, including restoring six-day delivery. Estimates from the communications regulator Ofcom indicate that removing next-day delivery capability could save Royal Mail at least £100 million annually. Other European postal systems operate successfully without next-day delivery, instead providing universal service within two or three days at prices only marginally higher than the current second-class rates.

While these changes may require customers to adapt by planning mailings with longer lead times, supporters argue that this adjustment is a reasonable expectation in the evolving postal landscape. The challenge, they say, lies not only with the postal service but also with users adjusting their own mailing habits to accommodate new service parameters.