Royal Mail says ministers and Ofcom holding up ‘transformation’

The chairman of Royal Mail’s parent company has urged Ofcom to speed up a service review as it fends off a £3 billion takeover approach.

Keith Williams, chairman of International Distributions Services, criticised a lack of progress by the government and Ofcom, the communications regulator, in modernising the so-called universal service obligation. He said this “has held back Royal Mail’s transformation …. we urge Ofcom to accelerate their review”.

Ofcom launched a consultation in January after putting forward options for changes to the obligation, which requires Royal Mail to deliver letters to every address in the UK six days a week, at a uniform price, and parcels five days a week.

IDS says that its own proposals would reduce costs by up to £300 million