Mail chief leaves post

Royal Mail chairman Peter Long is stepping down just months after a shareholder revolt over its new chief executive’s bumper pay packet.

The firm said Long was leaving after realising it was “no longer possible” to continue while also being executive chairman of estate agency chain Countrywide.

He will leave immediately and be replaced by Royal Mail board member and former Axa Sun Life boss Les Owen.

It comes after a row over a salary rise for its new Zurich-based chief executive Rico Back.

Back is being paid a £640,000 annual salary, £100,000 more than predecessor Moya Greene.

At Royal Mail’s recent AGM, 70% of shareholders voted against the firm’s pay plans.