Post Office Ltd completes board line-up
Post Office Ltd has completed the line-up on its board with the appointment of former Co-operative Bank chief operating officer Tim Franklin as a non-executive director. Britain’s post office network operator said the completion of its nine-member board “marks an important stage” in its progression as an independent business since splitting from Royal Mail in April.
Franklin is currently non-executive director at government property registration agency HM Land Registry and spent almost two and a half years as COO of Co-operative Bank until December 2011.
He is also a former managing director of Britannia Building Society and a former commercial director of Barclays Bank.
Alice Perkins, the Post Office Ltd chairman, said of Franklin’s appointment: “His expertise in the financial services industry and extensive experience leading customer-facing businesses will be a great asset to the Post Office as we continue to build our hugely successful financial services business and transform the Post Office into a key provider of straightforward, value for money financial products and services.”
Franklin, whose career includes previous non-executive director positions for organisations including Reclaim Fund Ltd, the agency that redistributes money from dormant bank accounts, said it was a “very exciting time” to be joining Post Office Ltd.
He said the opportunities were “clear” for the company, which remains state-owned although it is now no longer part of Royal Mail Group, to grow and modernise.
“I particularly want to bring the benefit of my previous experience to help the Post Office realise its ambition of establishing itself as a recognised and trusted financial services alternative to the major UK banks,” said Franklin.
Post Office Ltd oversees a network of around 11,800 post offices across the UK.
Along with chairman Alice Perkins, its board now comprises Post Office Ltd chief executive Paula Vennells, company secretary Alwen Lyons, senior independent director Neil McCausland, chief financial officer Chris Day and non-executive directors Virginia Holmes, Susannah Storey, Alasdair Marnoch and Tim Franklin.
