Royal Mail plans to cut up to 2,500 head office and support jobs by the end of 2027, the company announced today, after launching a review of those functions as it simplifies the business.
The postal service said the reduction represented less than 2 per cent of its 131,000 workforce. It follows changes to the regulations governing its nationwide coverage, known as the universal service obligation (USO).
“This is subject to consultation and we anticipate the changes would be achieved through natural attrition and a voluntary redundancy programme, with no compulsory redundancies,” the company said.
“There would be no reductions in operational frontline roles in delivery and processing, including posties and drivers.
“The organisational review is designed to improve efficiency, speed up decision-making, and focus resources on activities that have the biggest impact on the company’s transformation and service to customers.”
Alistair Cochrane, Royal Mail’s chief executive, said the changes “will not be easy, but they are an important part of building a stronger, simpler and future-ready” business.
He added: “We have been working hard to reduce costs and simplify processes across all areas of the business as we transform to win in a very competitive market. These proposed changes remove duplication and allow us to invest further in the service we deliver for our customers.”
Royal Mail, which is based at Mount Pleasant in central London, was taken private last year by Daniel Kretinsky, the Czech billionaire.
His Prague-based EP Group completed the £3.6bn acquisition of International Distribution Services, Royal Mail’s parent company, after agreeing undertakings with ministers. They included creating a so-called golden share for the government.
The company has said it is in the midst of a “significant transformation” as it implements reform of the USO and responds to a decline in letter volumes.
Ofcom, the regulator, agreed to changes to the USO in July 2025, following years of lobbying by Royal Mail. Its statement removed the requirement to deliver second-class letters six days a week and allowed delivery on alternate weekdays, ending Saturday deliveries of second-class letters. The requirement to deliver first-class letters six days a week was unchanged, Ofcom said.
In April, the postal executive committee of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and the board of International Distribution Services approved an agreement to deploy the changes, as well as the equalisation of new employee pay and conditions.
Ofcom fined Royal Mail £21m on 15 October 2025 for failing to meet its first and second-class delivery targets in the 2024/25 financial year.
The regulator said the company delivered 77 per cent of first-class mail and 92.5 per cent of second-class mail on time, against targets of 93 per cent and 98.5 per cent.
It was the third consecutive annual fine. Ofcom said it had previously fined the company £5.6m in November 2023 and £10.5m in December 2024 after finding it in breach of its regulatory obligations.
Kretinsky appeared before MPs on the Commons business select committee in March, amid concerns about the company’s failure to hit statutory delivery targets. He said the service was “not where we want it to be”, but said it was not declining and that the reforms would help to improve deliveries.
The CWU said it would meet the company to discuss the job cuts.
Martin Walsh, deputy general secretary at the CWU, said: “We will be meeting management to discuss this announcement, which is further evidence of a company that is demoralising staff and failing to deliver for customers and the wider community.
“We urge the government to confront the reality of a collapsing Royal Mail and intervene to save this national institution.”
