On 25 April 2022, following feedback from the industry, we opened up a trial enabling customers to submit their reforecast up to 20:00 on each Working Day, as opposed to the current cut-off time of 16:00. The purpose of the trial is to assess whether the additional window of time supports customers in preparing a more accurate reforecast, and consequently Royal Mail to adjust its operational resource the evening before handover of mail. The duration of this trial was extended to the end of July 2023 as a result of a slower than anticipated uptake in triallists.

We have seen some improvement in forecast accuracy from the 20:00 reforecasts, and have decided to extend the trial to the end of October 2023 to allow for a full 12 months' data for all triallists before we complete our assessment and form a final view on what the reforecast time should be going forwards.

We will of course keep you up to speed on this, and any other developments in relation to forecasting in due course.