Cyber incident disrupts Royal Mail's international mailings

Cyber incident disrupts Royal Mail's international mailings
Credit: Belga

The British postal service, Royal Mail, reported on Wednesday that it was experiencing a “serious service disruption” following a cyber incident.

Royal Mail said it was unable to send export items, including letters and parcels, to overseas destinations, adding that international parcels that had already been sent “may suffer delays.”

In a statement, the postal service said it was working with external experts to investigate the incident. The relevant authorities have also been alerted.

Royal Mail’s parent company, the British postal group International Distributions Services (IDS), is in decline: it announced in November 2022 that it had fallen into the red over the six-month period ending that month.

Royal Mail, the subsidiary which groups its activities in the United Kingdom, had suffered a drop in revenue of more than 10%, mainly due to a drop in the volume of parcels, which had been boosted by the pandemic, and an ongoing social conflict over wages.

The company said in October that it was thinking of cutting up to 10,000 posts by August, which could result in 6,000 dismissals out of more than 137,000 employees.

It had also said it was basing its strategy on improving efficiency by refocusing its business on parcels.

GLS, its international parcel branch, also saw a drop in volumes, but increased its turnover by almost 10%. The group recently changed its name from Royal Mail to reflect the “increased importance of GLS” and is considering splitting its UK and international operations.


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