Royal Mail lay-offs to deliver £40m annual savings | Business

Royal Mail plans to cut 700 managerial jobs and has lowered its profit outlook for the year due to the anticipated cost of the restructure.

The privatised national postal operator said it hoped to simplify its operational structures to ensure an “improved focus on local performance” and “devolve more accountability and flexibility to frontline operational managers”.

This month Ofcom, the body that regulates Royal Mail, said it was “concerned” about reported month-long delays of post over Christmas, with some customers not receiving cards sent in mid-December until this month. The regulator said it had told Royal Mail it must take steps to improve its performance.

Keith Williams, chairman of Royal Mail, said: “The past few months have demonstrated that the challenge for Royal Mail is