RMCtv : Grant McPherson joins today as COO and other senior operational appointments

[POSTMAN]

Grant McPherson joins today as COO and other senior operational appointments

Team,
Further to our announcement a few weeks ago, I am very pleased to say that Grant McPherson has joined us today as Chief Operating Officer (COO).

When I first met Grant I knew that his background as an engineer in the car industry would mean he would want to get ‘under the bonnet’ at Royal Mail straight away. And true to form, he is spending much of his first week out visiting the operation, starting in Stornoway this morning. Do look out for more from Grant over the coming days.

As previously announced, we also welcome today Debra Bailey as Chief Information Officer and Rob Fowler as Fleet Director.

I am also pleased to announce two appointments who have joined today to further strengthen our operational leadership team:

Neil Chaplain, Parcel Operations Design Director: This role will include a responsibility for the end to end pipeline design for parcels. Neil joins us most recently from Jaguar Land Rover where he was Director Manufacturing Engineering.

Mark Trowbridge, Operations Performance Director: This role will include the responsibility for the Operations Quality and Customer function, and will focus on driving improvement across the whole operations balanced scorecard. Mark most recently worked at Jaguar Land Rover where he was Director Castle Bromwich Operations, Manufacturing Strategy and Planning.

Debra, Rob, Neil and Mark will all report to Grant. Welcome to the team.

Appointment of new Regional Operations Directors

As part of our Delivering for the Future programme, we are fundamentally reshaping the most senior leadership roles in the operation. This includes appointing ten Regional Operations Directors (RODs). The RODs will set the business strategy for each region and be responsible for overall pipeline performance over a much larger geographic areas than the current 20 SDL regions.

This is a significant change. These ten RODs will lead our reinvention in the operation, and it is important that we have the right combination of expertise, inspirational leadership and fresh thinking and approaches.

I am pleased to say that we have appointed five of the new RODs on a permanent basis from our existing leadership population. A further five of our senior operational team have agreed to step up as interim RODs while we recruit new talent into Royal Mail.

From today, the ten RODs are:
North East: Mark Wilkinson
South West/South Wales: Lee Martin
Midlands: Kate Ellis
North West/North Wales: Steve Selby
Scotland: Ross Hutchison
Interim appointments:
London: Steve Molloy (In addition to his permanent appointment leading the Delivery Performance Improvement Team)
South Central: Anthony Thorne
South East: Sean Watson
Northern Ireland: Michael Clarke
Anglia: Adam Pestell

We are also in the process of recruiting the new Field Operations Director. The ten RODs will report into this role. In the meantime, Mark Wilkinson, ROD for the North East, will oversee the day to day coordination between the ten regions.

I would like to thank each of the SDLs who will be leaving the business under these changes for their dedication and commitment to Royal Mail over many years. We wish you all the best for the future.

Ricky McAulay: expanded remit as Operations Development Director

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Ricky McAulay for acting as interim COO in recent weeks, in addition to his day to day role as Operations Development Director. Ricky will now return to this role delivering strategically important initiatives including the ‘Day in the Life Of’ programme (DILO), the Royal Mail Academy and the Delivering for the Future programme.
In addition, I have asked Ricky to lead on our Network Design to ensure that our network is fit for the future. As I have said before, we have historically been 100% optimised for letters, but we need to be 100% optimised for parcels to ensure we can compete, and win.

Dr Shaun Davis and Aleta Weir

As many of you know, this week is also Dr Shaun Davis’last week at Royal Mail after nearly ten years, most recently as Director Safety, Health and Wellbeing.

Managing the safety function on an interim basis will be interim Safety Director, Phil Graham, who will now report to Grant as Chief Operating Officer. Phil joins us from SHV where he was Health and Safety Global Director.

In addition, after 30 years at Royal Mail, Aleta Weir, Head of Quality & Customer Insight & Compliance, has decided to leave the business to pursue new opportunities. Aleta’s last day will be 30 April 2022.

I would like to thank Aleta and Shaun for their considerable contribution to Royal Mail, and wish them both all the best in their future endeavours.

Today’s changes are an important step in creating the operational structure that will lead us in our reinvention.
Congratulations to all the new appointees, and welcome to the team Grant, Debra, Rob, Phil, Mark and Neil.
Thanks
Simon

[POSTMAN]

Previously on RMC...

RMCtv : Simon Thompson : New Senior Appointments

Simon Thompson
Honda Motor Europe LtdHonda Motor Europe Ltd
14 yrs 8 months
Marketing/NPD DirectorMarketing/NPD Director
Jan 2002 - Jan 2006 · 4 yrs 1 moJan 2002 - Jan 2006 · 4 yrs 1 mo
London, United Kingdom

Jobs for the boys?

RE: Grant McPherson
For those of you who know my career history – no, we didn’t actually work together at Honda, but I know Grant had a great reputation in the company.

[2yearpostie]

Great to see theyve all worked in a parcels/letters enviroment before..oh wait..

[oypostie]

So are we building cars now ??

[panzer4]

They all learned their trade at British Leyland

[2yearpostie]

They all learned their trade at British Leyland

God thats a scary thought.

[Phantom]

More new faces producing the same old bollocks. Does HQ have a revolving door on it???
Not one will do their job correctly - I expect industrial action this year.

[Sundodger]

Oh dear, they will be introducing the same methods they used at JLR to RM

They did not listen to end users, did not listen to work force, they used data to restructure and to cut everything to the bone in cost saving exercises, then off loaded everything they could to outside suppliers, and relocated manufacturing abroad for cheaper costs..

So possible scenario in the RM future: Albania looks like a good bet to send mail to and sort the post and parcels into individual walks at DO's, these shipped back to UK to central hub, then sent to relevant DO. Agency workers employed on a "just in time" style delivery operation to cope with changing levels of demand.


That was tongue in cheek

[number one]

Why are all these new people from a car/manufacturing background?
I wonder how many times their paths have crossed over the years. Also no mention of salary

[barrychuckle]

He forgot to mention Pullinger's new operational appointment as chief bum licker. Hopefully only interim.

[Mr Rush]

As I have said before, we have historically been 100% optimised for letters, but we need to be 100% optimised for parcels to ensure we can compete, and win.

So 0% optimisation for letters?

[priority102]

Why are all these new people from a car/manufacturing background?
I wonder how many times their paths have crossed over the years. Also no mention of salary

Probably Simon's thinking is to DRIVE the changes forward?

[*horcrux*]

RODs

[noggin1969]

[img]h

[postieblueshirt]

an amazing line up and given there backgrounds very handy seeing as they have been driving down the qaulity of service for a while already