The chief executive of Royal Mail is in advanced talks to leave the company just weeks after his credibility was questioned by MPs investigating the performance of the former state-owned monopoly.
Sky News has learnt that the board of International Distributions Services (IDS), Royal Mail’s London-listed owner, could announce as soon as this week that Simon Thompson is to step down.
City sources said that Mr Thompson had become increasingly disillusioned about the job in recent weeks amid a bitter fight with union bosses over the company’s future.
An industry source said that some board members had also concluded that the business requires fresh leadership after a turbulent period.
One insider said on Monday that key details of his exit had yet to be finalised, suggesting that a formal statement could yet be delayed beyond this week.
The person added, however, that an announcement was “likely” to be made before IDS reports annual results on 18 May.
If confirmed, it would bring a largely unhappy tenure, which began just over two years ago, to an end.
Mr Thompson initially joined the IDS board as a non-executive director in November 2017, having had spells as an executive at companies including Lastminute.com, Honda, HSBC, Motorola and Wm Morrison, the supermarket chain.
His most recent role was at Ocado, the online grocer.
He has come under fire from all quarters in the last few months, with MPs on the business select committee forcing him to give evidence for a second time after accusing him of misleading them at a hearing in January.
The committee’s chairman, Labour MP Darren Jones, said failures in…
