Royal Mail has delivered to its customers the best-ever annual quality of service against target, it was announced today.

First Class mail comfortably exceeded the official target of 93.0 per cent in 2006-07 with 94.0 per cent of letters arriving the next day. Also, 98.9 per cent of Second Class mail was delivered within three days against a target of 98.5 per cent.

Overall, 11 of the 12 targets the business is set in its licence were achieved or surpassed in 2006/07.

The business mail services which performed above target level included Mailsort (for bulk mailers), Presstream (for publishers) and PPI (Postage Paid Impression) for mail posted in pre-paid envelopes. Standard Parcels also performed at its highest level on record with a 94.5 per cent against a target of 90.0 per cent.