Royal Mail is once again facing significant delivery delays across Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, impacting thousands of households and businesses just a week before Christmas. The disruption stems from what the postal service describes as “high levels of sick absence, resourcing, or other local factors” within its local delivery offices. This mirrors a broader national challenge, with over 150 postcodes across the UK experiencing similar service interruptions during the festive peak.
Affected areas in Aberdeen include Altens (AB10, AB11, AB12, AB35) and Westhill (AB13, AB14, AB32). Other parts of the North East, such as Aboyne (AB34), Dyce (AB21), and Inverurie (AB51, AB52), have also been cited as experiencing issues.
Locals have taken to social media to highlight delays, with one posting: “We just went a record 20 days without any post being delivered to us and then got 37 items all at once. We are lucky if we get post once a week and we are on a major road in the city less than 10 minutes away from the depot. The service is appalling and Royal Mail need to make some serious improvements.”
Royal Mail has assured customers that it aims to deliver to all addresses six days a week, but acknowledges this may “temporarily not be possible” in affected areas. In such cases, the company states it will “rotate deliveries to minimise the delay to individual customers” and provide “targeted support to those offices to address their challenges”.
The persistent challenges faced by Royal Mail, particularly during the critical Christmas period, are not new. The postal service has been under increasing pressure due to the significant growth in e-commerce, which has dramatically increased parcel volumes over the past decade. Despite recruiting approximately 20,000 additional staff for the 2025 festive season, systemic issues appear to persist.
Regulatory body Ofcom has repeatedly scrutinised Royal Mail’s performance. For the 2024-25 financial year, Royal Mail delivered only 77% of first-class mail on time against a target of 93%, and 92.5% of second-class mail on time against a target of 98.5%.
Ian Strawhorne, Ofcom’s director of enforcement, has stated: “Millions of important letters are arriving late, and people aren’t getting what they pay for when they buy a stamp. These persistent failures are unacceptable, and customers expect and deserve better”. He added that Royal Mail “must rebuild consumers’ confidence as a matter of urgency” and make “actual significant improvements, not more empty promises”.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has also voiced concerns, with officials stating that the system has been “overstretched and understaffed” in previous years, leading to claims that “every” postcode in the country could be affected by staff shortages during peak times. Terry Pullinger, CWU’s deputy general secretary (postal), previously attributed some problems to “failings of systems, data [and] management capability”.
The ongoing disruptions underscore the critical need for Royal Mail to modernise its network and operations to meet contemporary demands, a call repeatedly made by Ofcom. As Christmas approaches, the integrity of the Universal Service Obligation remains a key concern for both regulators and the public, with potential reforms to delivery frequency under discussion for the future.
