London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Sep 19, 2025

Royal Mail CEO Simon Thompson is negotiating an exit strategy

Royal Mail CEO Simon Thompson is negotiating an exit strategy

The Royal Mail CEO is in advanced talks to leave the corporation, just weeks after his credibility was called into doubt by MPs examining the former state-owned monopoly's performance.
The board of International Distributions Services (IDS), Royal Mail's London-listed owner, may announce Simon Thompson's resignation as soon as this week.

According to city sources, Mr Thompson had become more disillusioned with his work in recent weeks, amid a fierce battle with union bosses over the company's future.

According to an industry insider, several board members have concluded that the company requires new leadership following a period of turmoil.

On Monday, an insider stated that major elements of his departure had not to be finalized, implying that a formal statement could still be postponed beyond this week.

However, the person noted that an announcement was "likely" to be made before IDS released its annual results on May 18.

If confirmed, it would bring an end to a mainly unpleasant tenure that began just over two years ago.

Mr Thompson joined the IDS board as a non-executive director in November 2017, having previously worked as an executive at Lastminute.com, Honda, HSBC, Motorola, and the supermarket group Wm Morrison.

His most recent position was with the online grocer Ocado.

He has faced criticism from all sides in recent months, with MPs on the business select committee ordering him to testify a second time after accusing him of deceiving them during a hearing in January.

Failures in company policy relating to working conditions and the monitoring of postal personnel, according to the committee's chairman, Labour MP Darren Jones, "can only be due to either an unacceptable level of incompetence or an unacceptable level of cluelessness about what is happening at Royal Mail."

IDS stated last month that it has achieved an agreement with the Communication Workers Union (CWU) following protracted negotiations in which it was suggested that Royal Mail could be forced into administration if a deal could not be reached.

The corporation employs around 140,000 people, making it one of the largest private sector employers in the United Kingdom.

The CWU agreement includes a 10% salary increase over three years and a £500 lump sum for eligible Royal Mail and Parcelforce employees.

More here: Simon Thompson accused of providing 'inconsistencies' in evidence to MPs.
Royal Mail apologizes for an April Fools' hoax offering wage raises for employees.

A profit-sharing system would also entitle employees to 20% of Royal Mail's earnings if the company was able to improve its performance during the length of the agreement.

In exchange, the corporation intends to change its working methods, including mandating regular Sunday work and implementing new seasonal working patterns.

A ballot of CWU members will be held on May 17 and will finish on June 7.

Executives have repeatedly cautioned in recent years that Royal Mail's universal service obligation (USO), which requires the business to deliver mail to every UK address for the price of a stamp and is supervised by Ofcom, is becoming increasingly unsustainable in the face of increased competition.

It's unclear whether the corporation, which is chaired by former British Airways CEO Keith Williams, has a replacement in mind for Mr Thompson.

Given the circumstances of his departure, any reward for the Royal Mail CEO, who made just over £750,000 last year, would be highly contentious.

The Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government privatized Royal Mail Group in 2013, with then-business secretary Sir Vince Cable stating that privatization was a vital step to allow it to modernize.

The shares were priced at 330p and immediately skyrocketed, hitting a high of almost 500p, provoking claims that they were sold too cheaply.

However, its stock has struggled in recent years, closing at 245.8p on Friday, down a quarter in the last year.

On Monday, an IDS representative declined to comment.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Massive Strikes in France Pressure Macron and New PM on Austerity Proposals
Trump Seeks Supreme Court Permission to Remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook
Hillary Clinton’s Reckless Rhetoric Fuels Division After Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
NASDAQ Rises to Record as Intel Soars More Than 20%, Nvidia Gains 3%
Nvidia’s $5 Billion Bet on Intel Reshapes AI Hardware Landscape
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Trump’s Quip on Biden and Google Lawsuit Revives Debate Over Antitrust Legacy
Macron and his wife to provide 'scientific photographic evidence' that she is a real woman
US Tech Giants Pledge Billions to UK AI Infrastructure Following Starmer's Call
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
DeepMind and OpenAI Achieve Gold at ‘Coding Olympics’ in AI Milestone
SEC Allows Public Companies to Block Investors from Class-Action Lawsuits
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by Quarter Point and Signals More to Come
Effective and Impressive Generation Z Protest: Images from the Riots in Nepal
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Trump: Cancel quarterly company reports and settle for reporting once every six months
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
US Launches New Pilot Program to Accelerate eVTOL Air Taxi Deployment
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Hong Kong Industry Group Calls for HK$20 Billion Support Fund to Ease Property Market Stress
Joe Biden’s Post-Presidency Speaking Fees Face Weak Demand amid Corporate Reluctance
Charlie Kirk's murder will break the left's hateful cancel tactics
Kash Patel erupts at ‘buffoon’ Sen. Adam Schiff over Russiagate: ‘You are the biggest fraud’
Homeland Security says Emmy speech ‘fanning the flames of hatred’ after Einbinder’s ‘F— ICE’ remark
Charlie Kirk’s Alleged Assassin Tyler Robinson Faces Death Penalty as Charges Formally Announced
Actor, director, environmentalist Robert Redford dies at 89
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
JD Vance Says There Is “No Unity” with Those Who Celebrate Charlie Kirk’s Killing, and he is right!
Trump sues the 'New York Times' for an astronomical sum of 15 billion dollars
Florida Hospital Welcomes Its Largest-Ever Baby: Annan, Nearly Fourteen Pounds at Birth
U.S. and Britain Poised to Finalize Over $10 Billion in High-Tech, Nuclear and Defense Deals During Trump State Visit
China Finds Nvidia Violated Antitrust Laws in Mellanox Deal, Deepens Trade Tensions with US
US Air Force Begins Modifications on Qatar-Donated Jet Amid Plans to Use It as Air Force One
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
Elon Musk Retakes Lead as World’s Richest After Brief Ellison Surge
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
London Daily Podcast: London Massive Pro Democracy Rally, Musk Support, UK Economic Data and Premier League Results Mark Eventful Weekend
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Musk calls for new UK government at huge pro-democracy rally in London, but Britons have been brainwashed to obey instead of fighting for their human rights
Elon Musk responds to post calling for the murder of Erika Kirk, widow of Charlie Kirk: 'Either we fight back or they will kill us'
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
USA: Office Depot Employees Refused to Print Poster in Memory of Charlie Kirk – and Were Fired
Proposed U.S. Bill Would Allow Civil Suits Against Judges Who Release Repeat Violent Offenders
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
×