UK Royal Mail announces staff bonuses

Staff at Royal Mail will each receive a bonus of £400 next month for hitting productivity targets.

Chairman Allan Leighton made the promise this weekend in a letter to his 180,000 workers.

He has also told them that he is committed to their receiving 20 per cent of the business in a share ownership plan.

Leighton is confident the scheme, which will mean windfall shares worth up to £2,000, will be accepted by the Government. In a two-page letter, he said: “We had a very good Christmas and New Year.

“Quality of service is the best in the history of the company.

“If we can keep up this level until the year-end in March and our costs under control, we will hit the magic £600 million Share in Success target and pay out a minimum of £400 for everyone who has been in the business for this financial year.”

Suggestions that the share scheme would be dropped after opposition from the unions was dismissed by company sources.

Leighton revealed that the Department of Trade and Industry had approved Royal Mail’s £2 billion financial reorganisation plan.

He told his workers: “We want all of you to own the 20 per cent of the company as part of the programme of change to share in the upside.”

The plan still has to get the approval of the Treasury. Without it, Royal Mail would face a financial crisis. Company sources said that in a worst-case scenario, Royal Mail would be forced into a Competition Commission inquiry into its finances. At the same time, Royal Mail would challenge the stamp prices forced on it by regulator Postcomm.