Opinions over GBP 4.5m Royal Mail bonuses

Royal Mail bosses received more than GBP 4.5 million in bonuses last year – enough to prevent the closure of dozens of post offices.

Royal Mail accounts released yesterday show that Adam Crozier, the chief executive, was paid GBP 1.3 million in salaries and bonuses in the financial year 2006/07.

Overall, the company’s board received GBP 3.1million in “long-term incentive plans” on top of their GBP 4.1 million remuneration, of which GBP 2.5 million was salaries and the rest other bonuses.

The payouts prompted unions to ask why senior executives were getting such large bonuses while post offices were being closed and sub-postmasters were losing their jobs.

Earlier this week, Royal Mail announced a six-week consultation on plans to close 169 post offices in London by the summer. The move comes after a string of closures in rural areas.

Critics pointed out that the bonus figure was equivalent to a GBP 26,000 subsidy for each London branch facing closure.

Campaigners have said that depriving villages of rural post offices will cut a vital lifeline, particularly for elderly people.

But the Government says many offices are not profitable enough to justify a large subsidy from the taxpayer.

A spokesman for the Post Office said: “This is not simply about saving running costs – the problem facing Post Office branches is that there are too many chasing too few customers and too little income.”