The chief executive of Royal Mail is stepping down after only two years following an acrimonious tussle with unions.
Simon Thompson, who took the top job in early 2021, will stay on until the end of October as the postal firm seeks its fourth boss in four years.
Royal Mail’s parent company, International Distributions Services, said it was in the advanced stages of appointing a new chief.
Royal Mail agreed a deal in principle over pay and working patterns last month after a year-long battle with the Communication Workers Union (CWU), during which Thompson was accused of inflaming the bitter industrial dispute.
Thompson said on Friday: “I have been incredibly proud to lead Royal Mail during this crucial period in its 507-year history. The changes we have made, the infrastructure we have put in place and the agreements negotiated with our trade unions mean Royal Mail now has a chance to compete and grow.
“That is what I have always wanted, and it is now the right time to hand over to a new CEO to deliver the next stage of the company’s reinvention. I would like to thank my team for their support during a difficult and important time of change.”
The company said Thompson would continue to receive his salary, worth £525,000 a year, until the end of October. After that, he will receive almost £290,000 in lieu of notice and a further £67,500 in relation to his departure. He will remain eligible for a bonus this financial year.
The former Ocado and Apple executive, who led the much-maligned £37bn Covid NHS test-and-trace scheme, faced a bruising attack on his reputation this year.
First, the former Royal Mail boss Rico Back questioned his experience and handling of the dispute with unions, which led to days of strike action and major disruption to the postal service in the run-up to Christmas last year.
He was later accused of “incompetence or cluelessness” by MPs on the business committee after appearing before them in January and being recalled over questions about his evidence.
This month, Sky News reported that Thompson was poised to resign, citing sources who claimed he had become disillusioned with the job in recent weeks.
The company was also thrown into crisis this year when a ransomware attack linked to Russian hackers stopped international mail deliveries from the UK to other countries.
Thompson was on the board of Royal Mail as a non-executive before he was appointed by the chair, Keith Williams.
Williams said: “On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Simon for his significant contribution over more than five years at Royal Mail, both as CEO and previously as a non-executive director of the board.
“As CEO, his leadership, resilience and unwavering drive to ensure that Royal Mail transforms for the benefit of our customers means we have set a clear path to turn the business around.”
The CWU general secretary, Dave Ward, said: “Simon Thompson is one of the key individuals responsible for the financial crisis that Royal Mail Group has created over the course of the last year.”
Ward said Thompson was responsible for “the appalling mantra of ‘it’s our business to run’ – which saw the employer openly attack its own workforce on a relentless basis”.
He added: “However, we recognise that the chief executive was only one of the senior leadership team responsible for the unacceptable actions and behaviours of managers across the UK throughout this dispute. Further change in Royal Mail group’s leadership team is vital.
“It is important that the next Royal Mail group chief executive is somebody who understands the only way to turn around the fortunes of the company is by taking the workforce with them.”
Darren Jones, the Labour chair of the business committee who questioned Thompson in a feisty hearing this year, tweeted that the committee’s work was “never personal” and wished Thompson “all the best”.
He added: “The culture at Royal Mail must change and I hope this new chapter will recognise the importance of every worker and focus on delivering a sustainable future for the business.”
• This article was amended on 15 May 2023 to clarify that the pay deal agreed last month is in principle only; it has yet to be voted on by union members.
