Royal Mail boss quits 'Leighton's Boys' club'

Gillian Wilmot, managing director at Royal Mail, said yesterday that she was leaving the postal organisation because there was no longer a suitable role for her there. Sources close to Mrs Wilmot said yesterday that she had found the management team, chaired by Allan Leighton, to be “a boys’ club”. Mrs Wilmot arrived at Royal Mail two years ago and was responsible for both the business and consumer markets of the mail delivery business, which is worth over pounds 4 billion. Her arrival was hailed as heralding a new era for the predominantly male management team. Finance director Marisa Cassoni, the first woman to be appointed to the executive board, then took up her position in January 2001. The Royal Mail Group, which has recently changed its name from the ill-fated Consignia, has been restructuring its board. Mrs Wilmot said yesterday that there wasn’t open competition for the recently announced position of group managing director of mail services, which has been taken by Jerry Cope. “Allan just decided he’d set people in place,” she said, adding that there wasn’t a position at the right level for her left in the organisation. Mr Cope said Mrs Wilmot had successfully held the role for two years. “Gillian Wilmot ran a pounds 4.3 billion business, taking on the task of turning around its financial performance and leading Royal Mail’s marketing,” he said. “She devised a new strategy focusing on business customers and on making the business faster-moving and more customer-oriented.” A spokesman for the organisation said it did not discuss individual cases. “All appointments were made by the chairman and they were all made on merit,” he said. He said Royal Mail did not accept claims that the management was a “boys’ club”. “The chairman makes these appointments, it is up to him to make them in the way he thinks most appropriate.” Mrs Wilmot, who is married with two children, has been dubbed the Avon Lady following a stint with the cosmetics company as vice-president of marketing. She joined Royal Mail from Littlewoods, where she was brand and strategy director, and before that helped launch Next Directory as marketing manager. She will not officially leave Royal Mail until January, and said she would be announcing her next move sometime in the new year. “I have a number of options,” she said. As managing director, Mrs Wilmot oversaw a number of innovative campaigns to raise the company’s profile. These included the advertisements last Christmas featuring Elton John, and the launch of the pounds 1m prize for a “diamond” Christmas stamp, which also ran last year. This year’s Lord of the Rings stamp promotion stems from the success of the earlier campaign. Mrs Wilmot’s departure follows the surprising announcement that Paul Rich, director of corporate development, will take on the new marketing role for the entire organisation, a post that Mrs Wilmot was seen as likely to fill. Adam Novak, managing director of the media marketing unit, was seen as the other likely candidate for that job. Speculation is also mounting on who Mr Leighton will appoint as chief executive of the entire group. He is expected to announce the candidate within the next two weeks. Interest has centred on former Football Association head Adam Crozier, although Mr Leighton said on Tuesday that he still had “four good candidates”.