West Ham shareholder grilled by MPs over his failure to deliver

West Ham Shareholder Daniel Křetínský has insisted that his Royal Mail service has not declined under his ownership, despite heavy criticism of late deliveries and price rises.

In a rare public apperance the Czech billionaire made a defensive and sometimes impassioned performance in front of MPs on the business select committee.

Křetínský said he was “deeply sorry” for any letters that arrive late.

The Guardian claims that since his takeover, Royal Mail has battled trade unions over working conditions, raised first-class stamp prices from £1.70 to £1.80 and delivered 16m Christmas letters late.

But Křetínský has hit back at a string of complaints listed by members of the committee, including that service is getting worse and that more lucrative parcels are being prioritised over letters.

“This is a hard job, this is a job that nobody else in Europe is doing,” Kretinsky said.

“If you send a letter from Brighton to the Scottish Highlands, you need to get it there for £1.80 the next day.”

He said that in Italy, first-class letters cost €5.50 (£4.76) and that regulators there only required delivery targets to be met 80% of the time.”

Křetínský also denied that the service was prioritising more profitable parcels over letters, after Byrne read out testimony from postal workers claiming that this is the case.

Kretinsky invested in West Ham in 2021, paying £168.5m for 27% of all West Ham shares.

A report last year in his native Czech Republic claims his net wealth has grown to £13 billion.