Royal Mail owner chooses new boss from Dutch subsidiary

The company behind Royal Mail has appointed its next boss from its rapidly growing Dutch subsidiary following a bruising time for the logistics giant.

International Distributions Services (IDS) said that Martin Seidenberg will become chief executive of the group.

Since 2020 he has run GLS – an Amsterdam-based parcel delivery company owned by IDS which was the only part of the business to grow its revenue in the first quarter of the financial year, according to figures released separately on Thursday.

His appointment comes two months after Royal Mail’s chief executive, Simon Thompson, announced he would depart the business to let it “move forward under new leadership” following a long-running battle with its main union.

Mr Seidenberg does not technically replace Mr Thompson, who was not the boss of IDS, however the top role he now takes on was created following a reorganisation of the executive jobs.

He will be paid a base salary of £700,000 per year from August when he starts the job and will move to the UK. Once in place, he will choose new chief executives for Royal Mail and GLS.

The decision comes a year after Royal Mail Group rebranded to IDS to reflect the growing importance of GLS to the group.

Chairman Keith Williams said: “Under Martin’s leadership, GLS has grown to nearly 40% of group revenue and it continuously delivered significant profit to the group.

“With Royal Mail entering a new phase of its transformation after the ballot on the agreement with the CWU, and GLS on a positive trajectory, we can move both companies forward under Martin’s leadership to deliver change, growth and value across the group.”

On Thursday the business revealed that once again, while Royal Mail’s revenue shrank 4% in the three months to the end of June, GLS showed a healthy 7.4% growth.

Royal Mail delivered 10% fewer parcels and 8% fewer letters in the period. IDS called on the Government and regulators to change its service obligation.

The 30% reduction in addressed letters since the Covid-19 pandemic began highlights “the need for Ofcom and Government to take urgent action to reform the universal service”, the company said.

Royal Mail’s dip in revenue was in line with expectations. Part of the drop in parcel and letter deliveries was due to the extra bank holiday in May, the business said.