Royal Mail today announced the last recommended posting dates for Christmas to ensure customers’ Christmas cards, letters and festive parcels arrive with loved ones in time for the big day.
For 2nd Class mail, the last recommended posting date is Friday 18 December.
For Royal Mail Tracked 48, it’s Saturday 19 December.
For 1st Class mail, it’s Monday 21 December.
For Royal Mail Tracked 24 the last recommended posting date is Monday 21 December and for Special Delivery Guaranteed it’s Wednesday 23 December.
Royal Mail will be adding extra deliveries up to 8pm to meet the increased demand in the run up to Christmas and the growing number of next day parcels. There will also be an increase in processing operations on Sundays to help manage the surge on Mondays following people shopping online at weekends.
Royal Mail enters its busiest period of the year with quality of service at its best level for many years, although we recognise there is still more to do to meet Ofcom’s targets. In the latest reporting period, 85% of 1st Class letters were delivered on time, compared with 76% in the same period last year, while Second Class performance increased to 91.4% from 89.3%.
The improvements come as Royal Mail continues to roll out its new delivery model following Universal Service reform. The changes have now been introduced in around 90% of delivery offices, supporting a more efficient and reliable service.
Jamie Stephenson, Chief Operating Officer, Royal Mail, said: “Every year we pull out all the stops to deliver Christmas for our customers. This year, we’ve hired 22,000 seasonal workers to strengthen our operation during our busiest time of year. We’re going into Christmas with service improving and we’re focused on building on that progress. We prepare for Christmas all year round to help ensure we deliver the best possible service for customers and businesses across the UK.”
To ensure Christmas gifts and cards arrive safely, there are a few key things customers should remember – make sure the full address is written clearly on the item of mail and always include the full postcode.
Customers should also ensure that the correct amount of postage has been applied to avoid any delays or extra charges for the recipient. More information on our Christmas posting is available on the Royal Mail website at www.royalmail.com/greetings.
Delivering Christmas:
Royal Mail has been preparing for months to deliver a bumper Christmas.
Royal Mail will be adding to the fleet of 44,000 vans (including 9,100 EVs) and 7200 trucks and trailers with an additional 7500 hire vans to support this year’s seasonal activity. In addition, over 1400 road haulage contractors per day are being hired to transport the festive mail and parcels across the country.
Royal Mail has the biggest network of parcel points to make it as convenient as possible for customers to collect, send and return parcels. There are around 30,000 locations including 3,300 lockers, 8,500 Royal Mail Shops, 11,500 Post Office branches and 1,200 Royal Mail Customer Service Points.
Royal Mail has also made it easier to use its 115,000 postboxes to send smaller parcels that will fit through a letterbox, enabling customers to request proof of posting using the Royal Mail app, and has rolled out 3,500 postboxes of the future designed to accept larger parcels up to the size of a shoebox.
Beware scams and counterfeit stamps:
We also want to remind customers to remain extra vigilant during the festive season. Often at this time of year we see an increase in online scam attempts, as fraudsters look for opportunities to steal money and valuable information from people expecting a delivery. Click here for some helpful tips on how to determine if an email, text message or phone call is from Royal Mail, and how to report anything suspicious.
