THE LONG GOODBYE
Royal Mail chair quits job number three as firms face investor revolts
The chairman of Royal Mail and the estate agent Countrywide has had to quit another chairmanship amid boardroom turmoil.
Peter Long, 66, has been forced to stand down from the board of a global themepark firm to focus on running the other two businesses.
Long, former chief executive of the travel firm TUI, is chairman of Royal Mail which faces a pay revolt this week, as well as executive chairman of Countrywide.
he stepped into that role when the estate agent’s chief executive Alison Platt resigned after issuing a second profit warning in three months.
In a stock exchange announcement yesterday, Long said he was stepping down from his third chairmanship at Parques Reunidos, a company listed on the Spanish stock market which runs theme parks around the world. Long, who was born in Malta and is an accountant, said: ‘After careful consideration of my overall business commitments, I made the decision some time ago to reduce them.’
Countrywide, which has brands including Bairstow eves and Gascoigne-Pees, has been in turmoil following a series of profit warnings after being hammered by a slowdown in the property market in London. Shares have fallen 62pc since the start of the year.
Meanwhile, Royal Mail faces an investor revolt tomorrow over plans to hand a multimillion-pound pay deal to its chief executive, Rico Back, who took over from Moya Greene last month.
A number of shareholder advisory services groups have urged investors to vote against the executive pay plans in protest at Back’s payout. he is also being paid a £640,000 annual salary – £100,000 more than Greene.
There has been growing concern over so-called over boarding, where directors hold several board positions. Corporate watchdog the Financial Reporting Council laid out plans this week for companies to ensure boards and chairmen do not have too many jobs.
Royal Mail reported a 7pc fall in letter revenues in the three months to June 24, while UK parcel revenues rose 6pc. This left sales in the UK division down 1pc, while overall group underlying revenues lifted 2pc after an 11pc surge in turnover at its european parcels business, General Logistics Systems.