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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Bosses have been lobbying for the rules to be watered down, arguing that outdated regulations have left it financially unsustainable amid a sharp decline in letter sending.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.
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