Post Office Ltd appoints Alasdair Marnoch as Board member
The UK’s Post Office Limited has appointed experienced finance director Alasdair Marnoch as as new non-executive member of its Board. The company, which officially separated from Royal Mail in April to become its sister company, said Marnoch would chair the Audit, Risk and Compliance subcommittee of the Board, reviewing statutory accounts and financial controls at Post Office Ltd.
Marnoch has been chief financial officer of financial and business services group Equiniti since March 2010, before which he was CFO of pensions services specialist Xafinity.
His career also includes time as group finance director at rail infrastructure and freight company Jarvis and at sports equipment manufacturer Dunlop Slazenger, along with senior financial management positions at the likes of Thames Water and BMW.
Alice Perkins, the chairman of Post Office Ltd, said: “I am absolutely delighted that Alasdair Marnoch has agreed to join the Board, where his extensive financial experience in any service businesses will be a great asset to the Post Office as we continue to deliver on our growth strategy.”
Marnoch said it was a “very exciting time” to be joining the Post Office as it pushed forward plans for growth and modernisation.
“The Post Office has a depth of trust in the many communities in which it operates and I look forward to the contribution that I can make as we deliver on our targets and values,” he said.
Post Office Ltd oversees a network of around 11,800 branches. In March, the company launched a GBP 1.34bn investment programme to convert around 6,000 branches into new “main” or streamlined “local” branches over the next three years.
Government services
Winning more government services is a key part of the Post Office growth strategy, and last week the company revealed it has won a contract with a borough council in London to make municipal services available in 17 local branches.
The contract with Hammersmith & Fulham Council will allow residents in the borough to access services including council tax, housing rent, service charge and business rate payments. It could also in the future include parking permit services and outbound payments by those without bank accounts.
The deal is significant for Post Office Ltd because it could pave the way for similar arrangements with other councils.
Richard Gutsell, the director of government sales at Post Office Ltd, said: “This success is particularly important for us, as Hammersmith & Fulham are one of our 25 innovative Pathfinder councils who are looking at the best ways that councils can link up with their local post office branches.”
The contract will go live later this year in the London borough, which is home to 170,000 people.
Hammersmith & Fulham councillor Nicholas Botterill said the deal with the Post Office would improve accessibility for council services among those not comfortable with using the Internet.
He said: “If more authorities sign up to the deal that we and the Post Office have brokered we could make council services more accessible than ever while saving taxpayers millions.”
