Throughout January and February, we invited Access customers to participate in 121 sessions to understand from them which D+2 service variants are going to be required by posting brands after the Access Condition changes as part of Ofcom’s USO reform agenda. Thank you to those Access customers who participated.

In October 2024, when we first discussed the concept of launching a new D+2 service and the future of the current D+2 (to become D+3) service, customers asked us for an early indication of which D+2 service variants Royal Mail are likely to make available.  At that stage customers told us that they expect most volume to remain on the standard service (i.e. to move to D+3 after USO reform) and, whilst there may be certain types of mail which end brands would want to continue to send via the faster D+2 service, it is unlikely all the D+2 service variants will be needed.  To save on development time and cost, Access customers asked for an early indication from Royal Mail of which D+2 product codes would (or would not) need to be set up within their own systems. Given this feedback we organised further customer 121s to seek more in-depth feedback which would enable an informed decision on which D+2 service variants to make available moving forward.  

121 Feedback

During the 121s customers confirmed their belief that the majority of volume would remain on the standard service (D+3 after USO reform). Demand for the new D+2 service would be driven by the need for a faster delivery speed for certain subsets of mail such as: utility mailings; legal documents; estate agents; finance sector mailings; charity emergency appeals; NHS; time limited magazines and mailings subject to statutory or regulatory deadlines such as parking notifications.

Some customers emphasised that having more D+2 products adds complexity. For example, one customer stated that they already experience additional work having to split mail files between D+2 and D+5, and therefore having three service levels will add complexity and use up more ‘factory time’.

All customers were certain that advertising mail in its various forms would stay on the standard Access service, which will be D+3 after USO reform and therefore, there would be no need for a D+2 variant for Advertising Mail, Partially Addressed Mail and Catalogue Mail. Almost all customers expect there would be demand for a D+2 variant for Mailmark Business Mail and Magazine Subscription Mail moving forward.

In terms of format, the majority of customers felt that there would be a need for Letters (excluding postcards) and Large Letters to be made available. Except for one customer who referenced a single manual large letter posting that may be interested in a D+2 service variant, all customers agreed that only Mailmark service variants would be required.

Relevance of Ofcom Consultation Document on USO Reform

Ofcom, in their Consultation Document on USO Reform of 30 January 2025, have indicated that, in addition to allowing us to move the standard D+2 Access service to D+3, are proposing, for a period, to regulate a D+2 service as well.  We will be providing Ofcom with our views on why we do not consider this proposal appropriate or necessary in our Response to the Consultation Document.  However, irrespective of whether Ofcom proceeds or not with this proposal, based on our conversations with customers to date, we do not believe that this will have a material impact on the suite of the D+2 variants which customers will want post USO Reform, and in particular that there would be no need for a D+2 variant for Advertising Mail, Partially Addressed Mail and Catalogue Mail.

Our proposal

Taking all the customer feedback into consideration we are therefore proposing that the following D+2 service variants will be available after the Access Condition changes:

• Business Mail Mailmark Letters in trays;
• Business Mail Mailmark Large Letters in trays;
• Magazine Subscription Mailmark Large Letters in bags/trays.

We felt it was important to communicate the above decision at the earliest opportunity, given customers want to take the necessary action to set up (or not set up as is the case) the new D+2 product codes. A formal contract change notice will follow in due course. 

Separately, we will be in touch with customers shortly to discuss our proposed approach for the GLL service post USO reform.

We thank you once again for your ongoing contributions to the dialogue about the future of the Universal Service, which will help shape the future of Royal Mail and how we can best serve our Access customers and posting brands in the future.