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Royal Mail’s chief executive has stepped down after little more than a year in the job and just days after the “Czech sphinx” investor Daniel Kretinsky formally took ownership of the postal monopoly.
Sources familiar with the situation said that Emma Gilthorpe had decided to step down after the role “didn’t work out” for her. She will be replaced by Alistair Cochrane, who has been promoted from his role as Royal Mail’s chief operating officer.
Kretinsky completed his £3.6 billion takeover of Royal Mail’s parent company International Distribution Services (IDS) in April and IDS shares were delisted on 3 June.
Cochrane becomes the sixth leader of Royal Mail in seven years. Dame Moya Greene stepped down as chief executive in 2018 to be replaced by Rico Back. He was replaced on an interim basis by Keith Williams, the chairman, before Simon Thompson took over as CEO in 2021.
Like Back, Thompson also lasted just two years after clashing with the Communication Workers Union (CWU) when the biggest wave of strike action for a decade was launched in a row over pay and working conditions. Martin Seidenberg replaced Thompson in 2023 and Gilthorpe was then appointed in April 2024 as Seidenberg took sole charge of parent company IDS.
By contrast, the tenure of the six chief executives prior to Greene spanned 33 years.
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.”
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. I look forward to continuing to work with him as we transform Royal Mail for the benefit of our company, colleagues and customers across all the communities we serve.”
Gilthorpe joined Royal Mail as chief executive in April last year after missing out to Thomas Woldbye in the race to be the boss of Heathrow. She had been chief operating officer at the airport and No 2 to John Holland-Kaye.
Gilthorpe said: “I will always be incredibly proud to have led Royal Mail and I would like to thank all 130,000 colleagues for their support as we worked together to deliver our ambitious transformation programme.
“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.”
Gilthorpe’s departure comes days after she was rapped on the knuckles by the regulator Ofcom in relation to the axing of Saturday second-class letter deliveries. Businesses and other organisations that hold a Royal Mail account received communication from the company on May 30 that second class letters would be delivered only five days a week on alternate weekdays as early as July 7.
Natalie Black, the director of Ofcom, wrote to Gilthorpe on June 3 to warn her that the correspondence was “incorrect” and “premature” as the changes were still subject to consultation by the regulator.
Company sources insisted Gilthorpe’s departure was not connected to these events.
Kretinsky, who has a net worth estimated at $9.9 billion, has emerged from comparative obscurity to become one of Europe’s most prolific investors.
The Prague-based tycoon started out buying unwanted energy assets as part of a bet that countries would need fossil fuels for longer than anticipated. He has since diversified his interests and in the UK his assets include a 10 per cent stake in supermarket Sainsbury’s and a 27 per cent shareholding in the Premier League football club West Ham United.
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