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Allan Leighton, the chairman of Royal Mail, has told senior ministers that he wants to purchase 51 per cent of the state-owned business on behalf of staff.

Leighton is proposing to borrow more than GBP 2bn from the City to fund the partial privatisation, which would see the shares held for the benefit of Royal Mail’s 200,000 employees in an Employee Share Ownership Trust.

He believes that he can bulldoze through opposition to privatisation from trade unionists and some Labour politicians if Royal Mail’s staff are the beneficiaries of the deal.

Leighton is confident that the group’s results, which will be unveiled this week, will show that it can generate sufficient cash flow to finance the GBP 2bn debt. He has also identified valuable assets – such as a European parcels business, GLS, worth an estimated GBP 1bn – which could be sold to reduce the borrowings rapidly.

Adam Crozier, chief executive of Royal Mail, was paid almost GBP 3 million last year despite a rise in complaints over late, lost and stolen letters.

The pay package, thought to be the highest paid to a public sector employee in Britain, puts Crozier, 41, on a par with the chief executives of big private-sector companies.

The scale of payments to Crozier, a former head of the Football Association, will be detailed in Royal Mail’s annual results this week. It is likely to spark criticism from unions representing postal workers and from consumers.

Crozier’s pay package consisted of basic salary, a cash bonus and pension payments. According to Royal Mail’s last pay disclosure, he was on a basic salary of GBP 500,000 a year and was offered an annual cash bonus of GBP 300,000.

Adam Crozier, the 41-year-old chief executive of Royal Mail, is expected to embark on a collision course with union officials this week when it emerges that he was paid nearly GBP 3 million last year.

The amount will be disclosed with the publication of the state-owned organisation’s annual results. It is thought to be the largest sum paid to the director of a government-controlled concern and puts Crozier on a par with the chief executives of some of Britain’s largest privately owned companies.

Royal Mail will also reveal that it paid more than Pounds 1m to Elmar Toime, the former executive deputy chairman who was ousted last October. Crozier’s board colleagues will also receive large bonuses. The payouts will infuriate many customers who still believe the company has failed to improve the quality of its service.