Allan Leighton has been re-appointed Chairman of Royal Mail for a further three years, Secretary of State Patricia Hewitt announced today.
Leighton took up the post in March 2002, and has returned the Royal Mail to its first profit in four years (£220m, compared to £197m loss in 2002-2003).
He attributed the company’s predicament to “not focusing on employees and customers” and has put in place a three-year renewal plan to create “a platform from which the Royal Mail could first survive, then compete in the most challenging regulatory environment in Europe”.
Hewitt said: “We are committed to building and sustaining a post office network that meets the needs of customers and communities, and a Royal Mail Group that delivers for customers and taxpayers.
“Quality of service has been improving in recent months, thanks to the hard work of the workforce, without whose efforts the turnaround would not have been possible,” she said.