Latest news with #InternationalDistributionServices
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Royal Mail boss jumps ship after Czech takeover
Royal Mail's boss has quit weeks after the postal service fell into foreign hands for the first time in its 509-year history. In a move that caught the business world by surprise, Emma Gilthorpe left having been appointed chief executive a little over a year ago. The former Heathrow director will be replaced on an interim basis by chief operating officer Alistair Cochrane. Her departure comes after Royal Mail's parent company International Distribution Services (IDS) was bought by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky for £3.6billion. The energy tycoon nicknamed the 'Czech Sphinx' for his inscrutable approach to business decisions swooped on the firm last year in a move that prompted outrage from politicians and businesses. The controversial deal, which was approved by 80 per cent of shareholders, saw the postal service fall into overseas ownership for the first time since it was established by Henry VIII in 1516. IDS chairman Keith Williams and the rest of the board stepped down as planned when the firm delisted from the London Stock Exchange in May. But IDS chief executive Martin Seidenberg and finance chief Michael Snape will stay in their roles. The company had not publicly confirmed whether Gilthorpe, 55, would continue to lead Royal Mail under its new owner. Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, said: 'A new owner means a different way of thinking and that normally includes a fresh sweep in the boardroom. 'Daniel Kretinsky is a brave man for wanting to own Royal Mail as it comes with a multitude of challenges. He'll already have a firm idea how to fix it and he'll want to parachute his own choice of leader into the company. 'Gilthorpe might have come to the conclusion that if she did not leave of her own free will now, it was inevitable that she would have been pushed out later on.' As part of the deal, Kretinsky agreed to a series of conditions to secure approval from ministers. The Government will retain a 'golden share' in the business. This means any changes to Royal Mail's ownership, tax residency or where its headquarters are based will need ministers' approval. Kretinsky, 49, must also retain the Universal Service Obligation (USO), which guarantees a first-class postal service to anywhere in the UK for a fixed price six days a week. But these rules are set to be changed by the regulator Ofcom, which has proposed cutting second-class deliveries to every other working day. Gilthorpe said yesterday she 'will always be incredibly proud to have led Royal Mail', adding: 'I look forward to seeing Royal Mail continue to transform in the years ahead.'
Telegraph
a day ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Royal Mail boss quits after Czech billionaire's £3.6bn takeover
Royal Mail's chief executive has quit weeks after a £3.6bn takeover by the Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky. Emma Gilthorpe, who took up the top job just more than a year ago, stepped down from the role this week. She has been replaced on an interim basis by Alistair Cochrane, the chief operating officer. Ms Gilthorpe joined Royal Mail from Heathrow Airport in a newly created role reporting to Martin Seidenberg, the chief executive of parent company International Distribution Services (IDS). Before this she held senior roles at telecoms companies including Cable & Wireless and BT's Openreach. Her departure marks the latest leadership upheaval at Royal Mail, which has had five chief executives in the last six years. Earlier this month, the company said a host of IDS non-executive directors would be leaving the business, including Keith Williams, its chairman. The boardroom shake-up underscores efforts by Mr Kretinsky to stamp his mark on Royal Mail after closing a controversial deal to take control of the company. The takeover by Mr Kretinsky's EP Group marks the first time the postal service has fallen into foreign ownership in its 500-year history. The billionaire, who agreed to a number of legally binding undertakings to allay concerns about the deal, has also hired Greg Hands, the former Tory minister, as an adviser. Mr Hands will provide counsel on market and regulatory developments in the UK and Germany. In addition to Royal Mail, EP UK owns a number of energy assets including a gas-fired power plant in Stallingborough and the South Humber Bank station, both in Lincolnshire. Royal Mail will now be seeking a new chief executive amid critical talks over the future of its universal service obligation (USO), which requires the company to deliver six days a week at a uniform price. Bosses have been lobbying for the rules to be watered down, arguing that outdated regulations have left it financially unsustainable amid a sharp decline in letter sending. Royal Mail, which lost £348m in the year to March 2024, has repeatedly missed delivery targets and is facing a potential Ofcom fine for the third consecutive year. The regulator has drawn up plans to allow Royal Mail to end second-class mail deliveries on alternate days and Saturdays and to water down its main delivery targets. However, the two sides are still in negotiations over additional service targets. EP Group is also locked in negotiations with the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents more than 100,000 postal workers, over pay and conditions, as well as guarantees on USO reform. The two sides have committed to reaching several key agreements by September, with further deals to be agreed by the end of the year. Mr Seidenberg said: 'Emma has worked tirelessly to drive forward Royal Mail's transformation and I would like to extend my personal thanks to her for the significant contribution she has made to the company. On behalf of everyone at Royal Mail and IDS, we wish Emma all the best for the future.'
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Emma Gilthorpe resigns as Royal Mail chief executive after just a year
The chief executive of Royal Mail has left after just over a year, weeks after the delivery company's owner was sold for £3.6bn to a Czech billionaire. Emma Gilthorpe, who joined from Heathrow airport in May 2024, left the company on Thursday, and will be replaced on an interim basis by the chief operating officer, Alistair Cochrane, with immediate effect, the Guardian has learned. Daniel Křetínský completed a deal to buy International Distribution Services (IDS), the owner of the 509-year-old Royal Mail, in April. A group of existing IDS non-executive directors, including the chair, Keith Williams, resigned earlier this month. However, the company had made no mention of Gilthorpe's future after the deal. She had been the chief operating officer at Heathrow airport since 2020, and joined Royal Mail in a newly created role under Martin Seidenberg, who is chief executive of IDS. Gilthorpe had also held positions in the telecoms industry, with BT and Cable & Wireless. She said: 'I will always be incredibly proud to have led Royal Mail … I look forward to seeing Royal Mail continue to transform in the years ahead, ensuring a stronger and more sustainable future for this great British company.' Cochrane joined Royal Mail in 2023 from the delivery company Whistl, where he was chief executive. He has also held senior roles at TNT Express and Parcelforce Worldwide. He becomes Royal Mail's fourth boss in three years. Seidenberg, who had responsibility for the division before Gilthorpe was installed, replaced Simon Thompson, who stepped down in 2023 after only two years following an acrimonious tussle with unions. Thompson had become the latest in a line of executives to clash with unions as they attempted to overhaul the company after its privatisation in 2013. Seidenberg said: 'Emma has worked tirelessly to drive forward Royal Mail's transformation, and I would like to extend my personal thanks to her for the significant contribution she has made to the company.' He added: 'Alistair Cochrane is an exceptional leader and brings significant experience to his new role from across the logistics industry, and from his time with us at both Royal Mail and Parcelforce.' In May, the industry regulator, Ofcom, launched an investigation into Royal Mail's quality of service after almost a quarter of first-class post last year arrived late. The target is for 93% of first-class items to arrive within one working day. Consumers and businesses have lamented the standard of service, complaining about delivery delays and higher stamp prices. In April, the price of a first-class stamp rose by 5p, or 3%, to £1.70 – the sixth increase in little more than three years. Ofcom has been examining whether to relax rules on Royal Mail's service, and has proposed allowing it to only deliver second-class letters on alternate weekdays and not on Saturdays, with first-class post remaining six days a week. Křetínský's EP Group clinched the IDS deal after a long-running UK government review of the national security considerations approved the deal. The Conservative former trade policy minister Greg Hands was this month appointed as a strategic adviser to EP Group.
Daily Mail
27-04-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Investors set to approve takeover of Royal Mail by Daniel Kretinsky
Royal Mail is set to fall into foreign hands this week for the first time in its history. Shareholders have until Wednesday to accept a £3.6bn takeover of the postal service's owner by Daniel Kretinsky. International Distribution Services (IDS) shocked the City when it agreed to be bought by the Czech Sphinx last summer. The deal will see Royal Mail fall into foreign ownership for the first time since it was created in 1516 and has sparked a backlash from politicians and businesses. But it looks likely to be waved through by investors after clearing regulatory hurdles, including a probe under national security rules. Last Friday, investors owning more than 41 per cent of IDS shares had voted for or signalled their intention to back the deal, a spokesman said. That includes the 27.6 per cent stake Kretinsky owns. The threshold for the deal to be declared unconditional is 75 per cent. But there are mechanisms for the deal to be approved even if investors owning just 50 per cent of shares have agreed to it.
The Guardian
09-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Royal Mail trials postbox with parcel hatch, solar panels and barcode scanner
Royal Mail has unveiled a solar-powered 'postbox of the future' with a built-in barcode reader and a hatch to accept parcels larger than letterbox size. In the 'biggest change to postbox design since their introduction more than 175 years ago', the hi-tech pillar box looks as if it is wearing a jaunty beret. The black, chequered lid is in fact solar panels that power the scanner. The postbox's extra-large opening hatch offers a new way for the postal service to cash in on a roaring parcel trade. While letter volumes are in steep decline, Britain is in the grip of a secondhand selling boom as consumers use sites such as Vinted to make extra cash. In a process that will be familiar to those with side hustles, the postboxes can be used to drop off packages that have barcoded postage. Once customers have scanned their code – the postbox's batteries store energy to power its scanner when there is no sun – the drawer on the front opens. They can then use the Royal Mail app to request 'proof of posting'. With competition fierce among delivery services, Royal Mail said the redesigned postboxes would make it easier and more convenient for customers to use its network. There are 115,000 postboxes in the UK, and the company flagged the potential to adapt 'thousands' to accept larger parcels. The red pillarbox has a storied history, with the author Anthony Trollope proposing their introduction in the 1850s when he was working as a surveyor's clerk for the Post Office. The design was not standardised until 1859 when two sizes with a cylindrical shape, painted green, were settled upon. However, people complained that green was difficult to spot and, in 1874, the distinctive red colour was chosen to replace it, although it took 10 years to repaint them all. The Royal Mail's chief executive, Emma Gilthorpe, said that 'in an era where letter volumes continue to decline and parcels are booming, we are giving our iconic postboxes a new lease of life on street corners across the nation'. You may have to wait for one near you, though, as the trial involves just five in the Ware, Hertford and Fowlmere areas of Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire. News of the postbox pilot comes before the imminent sale of Royal Mail's parent company, International Distribution Services, to the Czech energy billionaire Daniel Křetínský's EP Group in a £3.57bn deal. At the same time, Royal Mail is grappling with a shake-up of postal service rules it must follow. As part of a modernisation plan drawn up by Ofcom, it would only have to deliver second-class letters on alternate weekdays. However, the regulator also wants to set new reliability targets requiring 99.5% of first-class letters to be delivered within three days, and 99.5% of second-class letters within five days. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion In Royal Mail's response to the consultation, published on Wednesday, it complained that these targets would 'add significant cost', potentially resulting in even higher prices for consumers. (On Monday, the price of a first-class stamp increased by 5p to £1.70, while second-class stamps went up by 2p to 87p.) The company also called for the rules to be changed so it could offer tracking on all parcels sent first- or second-class around the UK. Currently, customers are required to select and pay for a tracked service, rather than allowing Royal Mail to offer tracking for letters and parcels sent using standard postage services.
