Ex-boss blasts ‘toxic’ Royal Mail | Business

The embattled chief executive of Royal Mail is under fresh pressure this weekend after his predecessor accused him of mishandling the industrial dispute that threw Christmas deliveries into chaos, and criticised his lack of experience.

Rico Back, who founded Royal Mail’s European parcel-delivery business and ran the group between 2018 and 2020, said the board had “wasted time” and “not executed properly” in negotiations with the postal workers’ union. He added that Simon Thompson, who joined as chief executive two years ago from the online grocer Ocado, had not run a big company before and did not know the logistics industry. “Both together is a toxic mixture,” he said.

Thompson is at the centre of a row with the Communication Workers Union (CWU) over proposed