Royal Mail is to cut 2,000 jobs in a restructuring that has been prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.
The cuts, which will mainly affect UK management roles, are intended to deliver cost savings of £130m a year and come just a month after Royal Mail’s chief executive Rico Back quit with less than two years in the role.
Parcel deliveries during the coronavirus pandemic have been higher than ever and the business has struggled to adapt to the changes needed to keep up with such high demand.
The postal service said it needed to take “immediate action” on costs after profit before tax plunged 25 per cent to £180m in the financial year to the end of March.
Additionally, It is also slashing £300m in spending over the next two years to tackle the impact of coronavirus.
Interim CEO Keith Williams says Royal Mail has been too slow to pivot its business to prioritise parcels over letters.
He said: “In recent years, our UK business has not adapted quickly enough to the changes in our marketplace of more parcels and fewer letters. COVID-19 has accelerated those trends, presenting additional challenges.”
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.