The embattled Royal Mail boss resigns after a long-running dispute with employees that plunged the company into crisis
- Simon Thompson, who has been in charge for two years, will leave in October
- Firm in ‘advanced stages’ of appointing a replacement
- Shares of International Distributions Services fell 1.5% or 3.4 pence to 227.9 pence
Troubled Tenure: Simon Thompson
The embattled Royal Mail boss has resigned after a long-running dispute with workers that plunged the company into crisis.
The owners of the 507-year-old delivery company, International Distributions Services (IDS), said Simon Thompson, who has been CEO for about two years, will leave at the end of October.
His departure – which the Mail revealed last month was on the agenda – follows Royal Mail’s deal with the Communication Workers Union (CWU) to end a row over pay and work practices that saw postmen 18 last year stopped for days.
IDS said it is at an “advanced stage” in appointing a replacement.
During the transition, Chairman Keith Williams will provide “additional oversight and support.”
Thompson said: ‘I have been incredibly proud to lead Royal Mail during this pivotal period in its 507-year history. The changes we’ve made, the infrastructure we’ve put in place and the agreements we’ve made with our unions now give Royal Mail the opportunity to compete and grow. Now is the right time to pass the baton to a new CEO to drive the next phase of the company’s reinvention.”
IDS shares fell 1.5 percent, or 3.4 pence, to 227.9 pence.
Thompson’s departure draws a line under an unstable period in which strikes plunged Royal Mail into crisis as unions clashed with management over pay and working practices. Royal Mail was losing more than £1 million a day and warned administrators may have to be called in if the situation doesn’t improve.
A breakthrough came last month when the company and union leaders reached a deal that included a 10 percent pay rise for staff and a profit-sharing scheme.
CWU members vote on the agreement. But the crisis left Thompson’s reputation in tatters and he faced fierce criticism from regulators and MPs. He was also humiliated during two appearances before the House of Commons Business Select Committee earlier this year.
MPs accused Thompson of ‘either an unacceptable level of incompetence or an unacceptable level of ignorance’ in his business operations and of ‘deliberately or unintentionally’ misleading MPs when he said he failed to understand Royal Mail had used data from personal digital assistants (PDAs ) to track employee performance.
Labor MP Darren Jones, chair of the affairs committee, wrote on Twitter yesterday that the criticism of Thompson and Royal Mail was ‘never personal’ and was ‘about holding decision makers accountable for their performance’. He added: ‘On that basis it is correct that Simon Thompson has resigned, but I wish him all the best for the future.
“The culture at Royal Mail needs to change and I hope this new chapter will recognize the importance of every employee and focus on delivering a sustainable future for the company.”
Dave Ward, general secretary of the CWU, also welcomed the news, saying: ‘Simon Thompson is one of the key individuals responsible for the financial crisis Royal Mail has created over the course of the past year.
“It’s important that the next CEO is someone who understands that the only way to turn the company around is to take the workforce with them.”
Thompson joined IDS’s board of directors as a non-executive director in 2017 and became CEO in 2021. He held positions at HSBC, Honda, Apple, Motorola and Ocado.
Aside from the protracted battle with his workers, Thompson’s tenure was also marked by a January cyber-attack that knocked out Royal Mail’s overseas delivery business.