Royal Mail: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show
Royal Mail Group Limited's person with significant control on the Companies House register is Ids Holdco Limited. In the year to March 2025 Royal Mail Group Limited reported turnover of £8,198m.
- In the year to March 2025, Royal Mail had turnover of £8,198m, up 4.8% on the year before.
- It made a pre-tax profit of £273m, keeping £3.33 of every £100 of sales.
- It employed an average of 126,811 people, with staff costs of £5,417m.
- Royal Mail Group Limited is controlled by Ids Holdco Limited, according to the Companies House register.
- These figures are from Royal Mail Group Limited's accounts for the year to March 2025, filed at Companies House on 22 December 2025.
- Registered name
- ROYAL MAIL GROUP LIMITED
- Company number
- 04138203
- Status
- Active
- Incorporated
- 10 January 2001
- Registered office area
- Sheffield
- Industry code on the register
- 53100: Postal and courier activities
- Accounts
- Single company accounts, this company only
- Accounts type
- Full accounts
- Latest accounts
- Year to March 2025, filed 22 December 2025
What does Royal Mail do?
Royal Mail is the UK's national postal service, collecting, sorting and delivering letters and parcels across the country, and it also runs the Parcelforce Worldwide express parcels service. It is the UK's designated universal service provider, which means it must deliver letters to every address at one price, under rules set by Ofcom. Royal Mail sits within International Distribution Services, which is owned by EP Group, and these figures are for Royal Mail Group Limited, whose immediate parent is IDS Holdco Limited.
In brief: national postal service · letters and parcels · universal service provider · part of International Distribution Services
Source: Spark Intel editorial, checked 6 November 2026. Official website: royalmail.com.
Who owns Royal Mail?
The Companies House register records Ids Holdco Limited as the person with significant control of Royal Mail Group Limited, company number 04138203. Ids Holdco Limited is itself company number 03229377.
That places Royal Mail Group Limited inside a larger group. The accounts on this page are the company's own, not the wider group's.
The full ownership record is on the Companies House register. Control is given in the bands the register uses, not as exact shareholdings.
Who runs Royal Mail?
The Companies House register lists 10 current officers for Royal Mail Group Limited.
All 10 current officers
| Officer | Appointed |
|---|---|
| Daniel Mares | 9 June 2025 |
| Jan Bilek | 9 June 2025 |
| Martin Seidenberg | 9 June 2025 |
| Roman Silha | 9 June 2025 |
| Daniel Kretinsky | 9 June 2025 |
| Marek Janca | 9 June 2025 |
| Jiri Zrust | 25 June 2025 |
| Matthew Newman | 30 June 2025 |
| Dwain McDonald | 1 August 2025 |
| Paul Ablin | 21 January 2026 |
Every current officer, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
What did Royal Mail file?
Royal Mail Group Limited reported turnover of £8,198m in the year to March 2025. That was up 4.8% on £7,819m the year before.
It reported 126,811 employees. The year before it reported 123,474.
It filed a pre-tax profit of £273m for the year, against a pre-tax loss of £93m the year before.
Staff costs came to £5,417m. That is an average of £43,000 a head. It ended the year with £341m at the bank and net assets of £2,402m.
| Measure | Mar 2025 | Mar 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Turnover | £8,198m | £7,819m |
| Pre-tax profit | £273m (filed) | -£93m (filed) |
| Employees | 126,811 | 123,474 |
| Staff costs | £5,417m | £5,453m |
| Average staff cost per head | £43,000 | £44,000 |
| Bank and cash | £341m | £209m |
| Net assets | £2,402m | £2,266m |
| Interest paid | £76m | |
| Interest received | £25m | |
| Directors' pay | £5m |
Read the accounts to March 2025 (PDF, Companies House) · every accounts filing
What do these figures mean? Turnover vs profit · Profit per £100 · Cash vs profit · Net assets
Are there any charges against Royal Mail?
Royal Mail Group Limited has registered 16 charges at Companies House, of which 3 are still outstanding. A charge is security a lender takes over a company's assets; one is satisfied when the lending behind it is repaid or released.
All 3 outstanding charges
| Charge holder | Created |
|---|---|
| International Distribution Services Limited | 21 October 2026 |
| Rmcpp Trustees Limited | 30 January 2023 |
| Royal Mail Pensions Trustees Limited as Trustee of the Royal Mail Pension Plan | 6 November 2019 |
Each charge, with its holder and dates, is on the Companies House register.
How Royal Mail compares
Of the 5 parcel carriers, Royal Mail is 2nd on turnover, 4th on profit margin and 4th on growth. DPD keeps the most of every £100 of sales: £13.50.
| Rank | Parcel carriers | Turnover | Profit per £100 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Amazon UK | £8,263m | £4.30 |
| 2nd | Royal Mail | £8,198m | £3.33 |
| + 3 more parcel carriers ranked |
Ranked by turnover. Profit per £100 is pre-tax profit for every £100 of turnover, shown only where the profit is filed.
Royal Mail files as Royal Mail Group Limited, whose person with significant control is Ids Holdco Limited, with turnover of £8,198m in its latest filed year.
Questions about Royal Mail
What does Royal Mail do?
Royal Mail is the UK's national postal service, collecting, sorting and delivering letters and parcels across the country, and it also runs the Parcelforce Worldwide express parcels service. It is the UK's designated universal service provider, which means it must deliver letters to every address at one price, under rules set by Ofcom. Royal Mail sits within International Distribution Services, which is owned by EP Group, and these figures are for Royal Mail Group Limited, whose immediate parent is IDS Holdco Limited.
Is Royal Mail bigger than Evri?
Yes, by turnover. Royal Mail reported £8,198m in its latest accounts, against £1,853m at Evri. Our Evri v Royal Mail page compares the two on profit, margin, growth and staff. Evri v Royal Mail →
How does Royal Mail compare with its rivals?
By turnover, Royal Mail is 2nd of the 5 companies in our battle of the parcel carriers, behind Amazon UK. The battle ranks them on turnover, pre-tax profit, margin, growth and net assets. The battle of the parcel carriers →
Who owns Royal Mail?
The Companies House register records Ids Holdco Limited as the person with significant control of Royal Mail Group Limited.
How much does Royal Mail make?
Royal Mail Group Limited reported turnover of £8,198m in the year to March 2025. It filed a pre-tax profit of £273m.
How many people work at Royal Mail?
Royal Mail Group Limited reported 126,811 employees in the year to March 2025.
Who runs Royal Mail?
The Companies House register lists 10 current officers for Royal Mail Group Limited. The full list, with appointment dates, is on the Companies House register.
- Figures come from Royal Mail Group Limited's filings at Companies House, company number 04138203, for the period shown at the top of the page.
- These are single company accounts: they cover this company alone, not any wider group.
- Pre-tax profit is the figure the company filed, for both years.
- A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d. A zero in the filing is treated as not disclosed, never as nil.
- Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, from £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, from £2m to the nearest million.
- Ownership is shown in the control bands the register of people with significant control uses, not as exact shareholdings.
- Officers' names and appointment dates come from the Companies House register. Job titles come from the company's own website. The description of what the company does comes from its website, or is marked Spark Intel editorial where it is written from stable, checked facts, with the date either way.
Spark Intel, “Royal Mail: who owns it, who runs it and what the accounts show”, updated 6 November 2026. https://www.spark-intel.co.uk/companies/royal-mail/. Figures from Companies House filings for ROYAL MAIL GROUP LIMITED (04138203).
More from Spark Intel
VS Series
Evri v Royal Mail: revenue, profit and who owns them
Read →Battle
The battle of the parcel carriers: turnover, profit and staff compared
Read →Company profile
JLR: who owns it and what the accounts show
Read →Company profile
Amazon UK: who owns it and what the accounts show
Read →Company profile
Nissan UK: who owns it and what the accounts show
Read →Company profiles
Every company profile, by sector
Read →VS Series