Post Office responds to Ofcom’s Royal Mail modernisation suggestions

The watchdog said switching from six to five days a week would save £100m to £200m and a further reduction to three days would save between £400m and £650m.

Last year the regulator began gathering evidence to show how the future of the service may be reformed to better suit the needs of today’s consumers amid a decline in the number of letters being sent while the amount parcels has increased with e-commerce growth.

Commenting on Ofcom’s call for the Universal Service to modernise, Post Office chief executive Nick Read, said: “We fully agree that there must be a national debate around how consumers need a parcel and letter delivery service to work for them in the 2020s and into the next decade.

“Our Postmasters serve tens of thousands of customers every week who need to send important letters – whether that’s to loved ones or for personal or work-related reasons.

“Vulnerable and elderly people, as well as many businesses, depend on a reliable letter service and their needs must be considered in any review.”