Royal Mail Delivers TUI Boss Long As New Chair

Royal Mail will on Wednesday name travel industry veteran Peter Long as its next chairman, handing him the delicate task of navigating the likely sale of UK taxpayers’ remaining shareholding in the company.

Sky News can reveal that Mr Long, the co-chief executive of Germany-based TUI AG, has been selected by the postal group’s board to replace Donald Brydon, who announced in January that he would step down this year.

Mr Long is an unexpected choice for the Royal Mail role, although he is an experienced boardroom operator, having served as a director of companies such as Rentokil Initial.

TUI, the owner of First Choice and Thomson, had previously announced that Mr Long would move from the role of co-chief executive in February 2016 to become its chairman.

He will take over two years after the company’s £3.3bn privatisation sparked a political furore, with accusations that Vince Cable, the then Business Secretary, had allowed Royal Mail to be sold too cheaply.

The Government continues to own 30% of the company and is expected to sell the stake during this parliament.

Among Mr Long’s assignments will be to undertake long-term planning for the appointment of a successor to Moya Greene, who has been Royal Mail’s chief executive for the last five years.

Under Ms Greene’s leadership, the business has experienced profound change, partly at the behest of regulators who have sought to modernise the postal industry and sharpen its competitive framework.

Last week, Royal Mail disclosed that it was handing Ms Greene her first pay rise since she took the role, a move that Mr Brydon had repeatedly warned was necessary in order to retain her services.

Earlier moves to increase her pay were hampered by a row with ministers over a £250,000 housing allowance which Ms Greene later volunteered to return.

Last year, talks between the company and Mr Cable’s officials over its pay plans continued until the eleventh hour, indicating that they had had significant difficulty reaching an agreement.

A repetition of that tension is considered highly unlikely ahead of Royal Mail’s annual meeting in 2015.

Mr Cable had also clashed with Ms Greene over regulatory changes to the postal industry, accusing her of "scaremongering" over warnings about the viability of the Universal Service Obligation, which requires Royal Mail to deliver to every UK address for the price of a stamp.

Part of the sensitivity in Whitehall over remuneration at Royal Mail stemmed from the accusation that ministers allowed the company to be sold too cheaply.

In a report last December, Lord Myners, the former City Minister, said future state asset sales should be handled differently in order to preserve greater value for taxpayers.

Since the Government sold a 60% stake - with a further 10% handed to the company's workforce - the shares have endured a rollercoaster ride.

An initial surge in their value saw them almost double during the three months after the flotation, but a combination of regulatory and competition issues have since weighed on the shares.

On Tuesday, they closed down slightly at 524p, giving the company a market value of £5.25bn.

Royal Mail declined to comment on Tuesday.