Royal Mail chairman: Bike deliveries are now thing of the past
Royal Mail's message to posties at today's AGM? Off your bikes!
Chairman Donald Brydon has told shareholders that bike deliveries for Royal Mail will now be a thing of the past, as they're not considered efficient for modern parcel sizes.
Shareholders voted through all resolutions at the AGM with at least 90 per cent approval, with no signs of a threatened pay revolt after the government – which retains a 30 per cent stake in the company – said that it would support the company's remuneration report.
Kicking things off at the company's first AGM since its privatisation, chief executive Moya Greene welcomed unions Unite and CWU, thanking them for their "collaborative" work in making the delivery company's privatisation possible. Brydon warned that unions and the firm should "not go back to the days of shouting through megaphones at long distance".
Shares in Royal Mail have suffered after the company warned on parcel revenues in an interim management statement earlier this week. Competition in the key market has heated up. At the AGM, Greene cited Amazon's switch towards its own delivery network and a trend away from larger parcels as responsible for of Royal Mail's weakness.
As for attendance numbers at the company's first AGM – the first opportunity for shareholders to air any possible grievances – there could be more journalists than shareholders present at the Birmingham venue.
The Times' Robert Lea reports that Royal Mail was "prepared for 3,000 of its 750,000 shareholders turning up," while an internal sweepstake indicated that the AGM might see between 250 and 600 seats filled. Maybe their invites got lost in the post.
Er, a low key start to Royal Mail's first-ever AGM. More biscuits than shareholders so far in Birmingham's NEC. pic.twitter.com/5xrozYkzDu
— Becky Barrow (@beckymbarrow) July 24, 2014
Fairly sparse at @RoyalMail AGM. pic.twitter.com/bea2rBjLPo
— Emily Black (@EMD1990) July 24, 2014