From Emma Gilthorpe, CEO

As of today I fully take charge of Royal Mail.

I want to thank Martin Seidenberg for giving me invaluable time to immerse myself in our business and I look forward to working with him closely as he moves his focus to building value in IDS plc.

I’ve spent the last few months visiting delivery offices, mail centres, contact centres and sites across the country to get to know our business and our colleagues. Thank you to everyone who made me feel so welcome. I certainly don’t claim to know as much as many of our long-serving posties, but I’m heading in the right direction thanks to all the information and knowledge colleagues have kindly passed on.

I’ve also spent time overseas looking at GLS operations across Europe. I now better understand the opportunities presented by the growing parcels market and have a fuller appreciation of the market dynamics. I also see opportunity for greater collaboration and joint innovation between GLS and Royal Mail.

We still have a long road ahead of us, but from the conversations I have had, I feel that confidence is returning across our business. The focus now has to be improving quality every day and delivering on our finance plans so that this business can succeed.

Today is also that day that Paula Stannett, our new Chief People Officer, joins the company, so please do say hello if you see her out and about. Paula will be working closely with Hayley Jones-Penny – who has done a fantastic job as interim Chief People Officer in recent months – as they hand over responsibilities. 

I am excited by what we can all achieve together if we all focus. This is a brilliant business and whilst we have our challenges, I am confident we can meet them and make our business thrive again. 

I look forward to working with all of you to do just that.

Emma Gilthorpe, Chief Executive Officer