Royal Mail is losing about 400 postal workers every week following the introduction of a new delivery system called DM26, according to the Communication Workers Union. The departures coincide with a planned cut of 2,500 management and support roles by the end of 2027, leaving local delivery offices struggling to maintain daily service.
A transformation plan intended to modernize the British postal service has triggered an exodus of frontline staff and a direct clash with labor unions. The Communication Workers Union reports that approximately 400 postmen and women are leaving Royal Mail every week, an increase from the previous average of 330 departures from its 83,000-person workforce.
The departures follow the rollout of a reorganized operating framework known as DM26 across roughly 1,000 of the company’s 1,200 delivery offices. But workers and union representatives state the operational reality on the ground diverges sharply from management projections.
Delivery Model 26 and the Strain on Frontline Postal Workers
Step counts tracked by eight workers across different regions showed increases of a quarter to a third, frequently reaching up to around 25,000 steps a day under the new routing system.
Bryn Dymott, who delivered post in the village of Wootton in Bedfordshire for nine years before leaving in July, said the workload made another peak season impossible to face. People put things in the post for them to be delivered, not for them to be delayed because Royal Mail hasn’t got the systems in place and enough people to get them delivered,
he said.
“We all think this Christmas will be the worst ever, for us and our customers.”
Anonymous East Midlands postman, via Yahoo
“Put simply, if a boat is already taking on water, adding more passengers is unlikely to solve the problem.”
Martin Walsh, deputy general secretary of the Communication Workers Union
Union Halts Delivery Rollout Amid Performance Problems
Citing severe performance problems in hundreds of offices, the Communication Workers Union formally instructed its members to pause further rollout of DM26 as of October 9, 2026. The union maintains that while the system functions in roughly 500 units, it has run into significant problems in hundreds of offices.
Royal Mail maintains that the delivery model is on track to operate in all offices by Christmas, noting that the rollout is 90% complete. The company reports it is delivering to “95% of addresses every day across the UK, up from 88% before the roll-out, and plans to hire seasonal temporary workers for the holiday period.
The frontline friction occurs alongside a formal corporate restructuring announced on October 7, 2026. Royal Mail confirmed plans to eliminate up to 2,500 head office and support roles by the end of 2027.
Alistair Cochrane, chief executive of Royal Mail, stated that the administrative cuts are designed to eliminate operational duplication following the 2025 acquisition of parent company International Distribution Services by Daniel Křetínský’s EP Group in a £3.6 billion transaction. Letter volumes have dropped by more than 70% from their historical peak, driving the postal service to adapt to a parcel-centric market.
Postal Service Faces Regulatory Pressure over Delivery Delays
The simultaneous management cuts and frontline departures arrive as the postal service struggles with chronic delivery delays.
Last July, Ofcom approved universal service reforms allowing second-class letters to be delivered on alternate weekdays. The parent group pledged to meet all regulatory delivery targets by May 2027 as part of a £500m investment plan.
Postal Services Minister Kate Dearden noted that while the company’s improvement strategy is a positive step, officials will continue holding leadership accountable for delivery performance.
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