<P> Royal Mail plc (Welsh: Post Brenhinol; Scottish Gaelic: a' Phuist Rìoghail) is a postal service and courier company in the United Kingdom, originally established in 1516 . The company's subsidiary, Royal Mail Group Limited, operates the brands Royal Mail (letters) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels). General Logistics Systems, an international logistics company, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Mail Group . </P> <P> The company provides mail collection and delivery services throughout the UK . Letters are deposited in a pillar or wall box, taken to a post office, or collected in bulk from businesses . Deliveries are made at least once every day except Sundays and bank holidays at uniform charges for all UK destinations . Royal Mail generally aims to make first class deliveries the next business day throughout the nation . </P> <P> For most of its history, Royal Mail has been a public service, operating as a government department or public corporation . However, following the Postal Services Act 2011, a majority of the shares in Royal Mail were floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2013 . The UK government initially retained a 30% stake in Royal Mail, but sold its remaining shares in 2015, ending 499 years of public ownership . It is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index . </P> <P> The Royal Mail can trace its history back to 1516, when Henry VIII established a "Master of the Posts", a position that was renamed "Postmaster General" in 1710 . </P>

When did royal mail and post office split