Not only is Moya Greene the first woman to run the post office, with a salary of just under £500,000 the new job secures her another title too – she’ll be Britain’s best-paid female civil servant.
he Royal Mail has named Canadian Moya Greene as its chief executive, making her the first woman to take charge of the postal service.
Miss Greene, 56, who has headed Canada Post since 2005, is also the first person from outside the UK to run the organisation.
She follows the controversial tenure of Adam Crozier, who left to become boss of broadcaster ITV.
Her salary of just under £500,000 makes her Britain’s best-paid female civil servant.
The unmarried mother of one takes charge at a pivotal point in Royal Mail’s history, ahead of Government plans to sell-off 49 per cent of the organisation.
But her appointment raises fears about the changes she could implement.
She was credited with keeping Canada Post in the black and last year the firm recorded £183.19 million profit. However, this came on the back of a hardhitting programme to slash costs by £352 million.
There are also startling differences between the service offered by Canada Post and her new employer.
In Canada there is no Saturday post, with deliveries only on weekdays. And many Canadians use ‘community mailboxes’, which see letters left in a small postbox at the end of their street rather than delivered to the door.
Canada Post’s standard service also takes around two working days, or three to five in rural areas. By contrast, a letter sent first- class in Britain should arrive the next working day.
There are similarities, however, with both Royal Mail and Canada Post being state- owned and offering only one delivery a day.
Yesterday Miss Greene, who has a daughter and will be based in London, said she was ‘ honoured to be joining such a great company’.
Among her tasks will be to continue the modernisation of the service, which has suffered a 15 per cent fall in post volumes in the past four years and come under pressure from competitors such as UK Mail and TNT.
A three-year deal on jobs, pay and working practices was backed by workers in April, ending a dispute that led to two waves of strikes last year.
But the militant Communication-Workers’ Union has promised to fight the sell off. Labour’s first attempt at a partprivatisation failed last year.
A noted workaholic, Miss Greene has twice been included in Canada’s top 100 most influential women.
She has a strong public sector background, having worked for the Canadian government where she spearheaded the privatisation of the Canadian railways and deregulation of the domestic airline industry.
When she was appointed chief executive of Canada Post five years ago, she spent much of her first three months joining letter sorters on their night shifts and walking delivery routes.
Last night Mike O’Connor, of postal watchdog Consumer Focus, said: ‘It is essential that there are deliveries to every property in the UK, Monday to Saturday, at a single affordable price.’
Royal Mail chairman Donald Brydon insisted the company will ‘continue to focus on satisfying our customers and maintaining the six- days-a-week universal service.’ Miss Greene takes up her post in July.