Check out the results of our Jersey to UK postal speed test

Remember back in August 2023 when the Island lost its mail plane, and all mail in and out of the Island instead switched to ferry? Following the change, many Islanders contacted the Jersey Consumer Council, or took to social media, to complain about the fact that mail to and from the UK was now taking a week, if not longer, to arrive.

At that time, we carried out a postal speed test, posting cards to family and friends of our Council Members and employees, in different locations across the UK. It found that mail took at least six days (excluding Sundays) to arrive, with the longest (Somerset) taking nine days.  

In Jersey Post’s 2025 Customer Survey, the results of which were published recently, they said that one of the biggest areas where Islanders had seen improvement in the postal service was in sending mail to and from the UK. In this year’s survey, 55% of survey respondents rated this service as ‘good’ or ‘very good’, compared with 34% last year.

So, we decided to test the speed out again, by sending mail to the same addresses we had posted to in 2023 and asking them to record the exact date the card arrived.

The good news for Islanders is that our Jersey to UK postal speed test showed a significant improvement in the speed of sending mail to the UK.

As you can see from the results, the majority of letters took just two days to reach their UK destination. Although there were a couple of anomalies (8 days to Manchester and 7 to County Galway in Ireland), the average time taken across the 12 letters was 3.25 days – down 3.15 days from the 6.4-day average seen for the same 12 addresses in 2023. You can see the full results in our table.

But why has the service improved so much? Jersey Post told us they placed GPS trackers in mail, which provided real-time insights into where the delays were.

Jersey Post worked closely with Royal Mail to make targeted improvements, such as switching mail centres where post was sorted, resulting in quicker delivery times to and from the UK. 

Julie Thomas, Group Operations Director, said that Jersey Post has seen a noticeable improvement in the quality of service to and from the UK.

“We’re pleased with these results,” she said. “The hard work we put in last year to improve service to and from the UK has reduced delivery times, and has been noticed by our customers.

“We continue to collaborate closely with Royal Mail to improve services to the UK.”