The LONG goodbye
Royal Mail chairman finally quits after fat cat pay backlash
SERIAl chairman Peter long has quit his job at Royal Mail after presiding over one of the biggest shareholder revolts in British corporate history.
The 66-year- old stepped down as chairman with immediate effect yesterday after finally conceding he had too many jobs.
A married father of three, long is also executive chairman of struggling estate agent Countrywide, has a senior role at travel agent Tui, and until July was chairman of Spanish theme park operator Parques Reunidos.
His ability to do so many jobs was brought into question over the summer when more than 70pc of Royal Mail shareholders voted against executive pay at the privatised postal service.
More than a third of shareholder votes were also cast against long’s re-election as chairman.
The humiliation came after Royal Mail handed its new German chief executive Rico Back, 64, a pay package worth up to £2.7m a year on top of a £6m golden hello. Departing chief Moya Greene, 64, was given a £2.6m golden goodbye.
But while long appears to have paid the price for the row, his successor as chairman, les Owen, was on the Royal Mail pay committee that signed off the controversial pay deals.
Despite calls for change at Royal Mail, long’s resignation came as a surprise.
The company said: ‘This year, his commitments have increased substantially, as he moved from non-executive to executive chairman at Countrywide.
‘That commitment will remain in place for the foreseeable future.
‘On that basis, Peter has reviewed his board appointments and concluded it is no longer possible for him to remain executive chairman of Countrywide and non- executive chairman of Royal Mail.’
long said: ‘It is with a heavy heart that I step down from the Royal Mail board. I have taken great pride in what has been achieved by the group.’
Orna Ni-Chionna, senior independent director and chairman of the remuneration committee whose botched pay plans sparked the shareholder revolt, said: ‘We understand why he has chosen to step down at this time and we wish him all the best.’
The appointment of Owen, 69, is likely to raise eyebrows given his role in the row.
The former Axa Sun life boss also chaired the pensions committee during Royal Mail’s lengthy battle with unions over retirement pots.
He has been on the Royal Mail board since 2010, meaning he is close to the nine years the corporate governance code says nonexecutive directors should serve without further justification.
long himself now faces a battle to rescue estate agent Countrywide, which has been forced to tap investors for £140m to avoid collapsing under its debts.
He suffered a second humiliation on bosses’ pay at the business – whose brands include Bairstow Eves, John D Wood, Faron Sutaria and Abbotts – having to back down on plans to hand himself and other top bosses up to £20m in shares between them, amid threat of a major shareholder revolt.
Royal Mail said: ‘les’s deep knowledge of our business means he is very well-placed to be our chairman. At present the board envisages les remaining as chair for 12-18 months, which will give us plenty of time to refresh skills on the board and line up les’s successor.’