Harry Koorstra resigns as PostNL CEO, takes no compensation
Dutch national postal service PostNL has announced that its chief executive, Harry Koorstra, has resigned with immediate effect. Koorstra said he had “differences in opinion” with the PostNL Supervisory Board.
PostNL said its Supervisory Board intends to appoint Herna Verhagen, member of the Board of Management and responsible for Parcels and International, as the new CEO of PostNL.
PostNL has had a difficult year including the demerger from global integrator TNT Express back in May. The company has been implementing major restructuring plans in recent months to respond to its 7.2% annual decline in mail volumes, changes which have not been supported by unions.
It has also had to deal with the difficult performance of its 29.8% stake in TNT Express until talk of leadership change or a possible acquisition saw shares rallying at the end of 2011.
In recent days, the transformation of PostNL’s delivery network into nine centralised sorting centres, switching entirely to part-time staff, has been roundly criticised, with complaints of late and missing mail by major customers. PostNL has not responded to requests for comment on this issue from Post&Parcel this week.
“Given the challenges the company faces, I cannot and will not work” – Harry Koorstra
Commenting on his resignation today, Koorstra said: “Such a decision doesn’t get made overnight. The cooperation with the Supervisory Board has been very cumbersome of late, amongst others in relation to differences in opinion about how to serve best the various stakeholders’ interests.
“Under these circumstances, given the challenges the company faces, I cannot and will not work. I am leaving without any compensation as I consider principles to be of paramount importance,” Koorstra added.
“Significant contribution”
Koorstra was CEO at Royal PostNL since the demerger from TNT Express became effective in May 2012. Previously he held the position as group managing director mail and a member of the Board of Management of TNT NV since July 2000.
He joined Royal PostNL (then PTT Post) in 1991 as managing director of its then Media Service business unit, and became a member of its Board of Management in 1997.
Before joining the company, Koorstra worked for 15 years at VNU NV, most recently as general director of its Admedia/VNU Magazine Group.
Piet Klaver, Chairman of the PostNL Supervisory Board, said today: “We regret Harry’s departure. During more than twenty years Harry has made a significant contribution in often very challenging circumstances.”
Herna Verhagen takes over as PostNL CEO
Herna Verhagen
The new PostNL CEO has had almost two decades’ experience with the company, holding a variety of positions with a focus on customers and employees such as Commercial Director and Group Director HR.
Verhagen joined TNT Post in 1993, working in various commercial and operational jobs before being appointed managing director of TNT’s internal mail and document management unit Mailprofs in 1996.
In 2003 she was appointed as director of marketing and sales, and coordinating director, at Mail Netherlands, before being appointed director of group human resources at TNT in 2007.
Commenting on her appointment as CEO, Klaver said today: “We are convinced that Herna is the right successor looking at the challenges PostNL currently faces.”
PostNL processes 8.7 billion addressed postal items (including 106 million parcels) each year and delivers to addresses in the Benelux, Germany, the UK and Italy. The company employs some 65,500 people. In 2011 the company generated a turnover of nearly 4.3 billion euros.
