Royal Mail Holdings Board
Details of Board members
The Royal Mail Holdings Board sets the strategic vision of the company and consists of the following members:
- Donald Brydon CBE - Chairman
- Lord Currie - Non-Executive Director
- Moya Greene - Chief Executive
- Mark Higson - Managing Director, Operations and Modernisation
- Nick Horler - Non-Executive Director
- Cath Keers - Non-Executive Director
- Matthew Lester - Chief Finance Officer
- Paul Murray - Non-Executive Director
- Orna Ni-Chionna - Non-Executive Director
- Les Owen - Non-Executive Director
- Paula Vennells - Managing Director, Post Office Ltd
- The Board is supported by Jon Millidge - Company Secretary
Donald Brydon CBE - Chairman
Donald Brydon is Chairman of the Royal Mail Group and Smiths Group plc. He had a 20-year career with Barclays Group, during which time he was Chairman and Chief Executive of BZW Investment Management and acting Chief Executive of BZW followed by ten years with the AXA Group including holding the posts of Chairman and Chief Executive of AXAInvestment Managers and Chairman of AXA Framlington. He has also recently been Chairman of the London Metal Exchange, Amersham plc, Taylor Nelson Sofres plc and the ifs School of Finance and a Director of Allied Domecq plc and Scottish Power plc. He is a past Chairman of EveryChild.
Lord Currie - Non-Executive Director
David Currie was appointed to the Board in January 2009 and is a member of the Audit and Risk Committee. He was the founding Chairman of Ofcom (2002 - April 2009).
He is Chairman of the International Centre for Financial Regulation and of Semperian PPP Investment Partners Holdings Ltd, and sits on the boards of the accountancy firm BDO, the Dubai Financial Services Authority, IG Group plc, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Previous appointments include positions with Nomura, Terra Firma, Unisys, T-Systems and on the boards of Abbey National plc and Ofgem.
Moya Greene - Chief Executive
Moya Greene was appointed Chief Executive in July 2010, previously having been President and Chief Executive Officer of Canada Post Corporation since 2005. Whilst there she led a wide-ranging transformation programme to increase quality of service and efficiency across the organisation. Prior to joining Canada Post she held senior roles at companies including Bombardier Inc and TD Bank.
Mark Higson - Managing Director, Operations and Modernisation
Mark Higson was appointed to the Board in November 2007.
Mark joined from BPB, the world's leading plasterboard manufacturer, where he was divisional Chief Executive and Group Operations Director. Prior to BPB, he held senior positions at Courtaulds Plc, including CEO at its UK Coatings division. He has also worked at HJ Heinz and British Aerospace.
Mark is an engineering graduate of Imperial College London and also holds a Masters Degree in Business from study at the London Business School and the Massachussetts Institute of Technology. He has a passion for safety and health, providing outstanding service and innovation for customers and for delivering operational excellence by utilising the full contribution of all our people.
Nick Horler - Non-Executive Director
Nick , 51, was appointed as a Non-Executive Director in April 2010. He was CEO of Scottish Power until October and has held senior strategic roles in major companies both in the UK and abroad.
Cath Keers - Non-Executive Director
Cath Keers was appointed to the Board on 1st June 2010 as a Non-Executive Director. She is a Non-Executive Director of Telefonica Europe and The Children's Mutual. She was previously Customer Director and Marketing Director of 02 UK and part of the team which turned 02 into one of the most successful mobile telephone companies in the UK.
Matthew Lester - Chief Finance Officer
Matthew was appointed as Chief Finance Officer in November 2010. He was previously Finance Director of ICAP plc for four years. Prior to this he worked for Diageo plc in a number of senior finance roles including Group Financial Controller. He is a Chartered Accountant.
Paul Murray - Non-Executive Director
Paul joined the Board on 1 August 2009 as Non-Executive Director and is Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee.
Paul also holds Non-Executive directorships at Thomson SA, Knowledge Peers plc and Tangent Communications plc and is a Trustee of Pilotlight.
He was previously Senior Independent Director of Taylor Nelson Sofres plc and has also been Group Finance Director of Carlton Communications plc and of LASMO plc.
Orna Ni-Chionna - Non-Executive Director
Orna Ni-Chionna was appointed to the Board on 1st June 2010 as a Non-Executive Director. She is a former Partner at McKinsey & Company, where she specialised in serving retail and consumer clients. She is currently the Senior Independent Director of Northern Foods plc and a Non-Executive Director of HMV. She was, until recently, the Senior Independent Director of Bupa and was a Non-Executive Director of the Bank of Ireland UK Holdings plc and Bristol & West plc. She is Chair of Trustees of the Soil Association.
Les Owen - Non-Executive Director
Les Owen joined the Board in January 2010. Les is a qualified actuary with 35 years experience in the financial services industry. From 2000 to 2006 he was the Group Chief Executive Officer of AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Limited and responsible for AXA's Asian life insurance and wealth management operations. Prior to this he was Chief Executive of AXA Sun Life plc. He was a member of the Global AXA Group Executive Board. Les is currently a Non-Executive Director of Computershare, the Football Federation of Australia and of Discovery Holdings, a South African listed health and life insurer.
Paula Vennells - Managing Director, Post Office Ltd
Paula Vennells was appointed Managing Director of Post Office Ltd in October 2010 and had been Chief Operating Officer since April 2010, having joined in December 2006. Previously, Paula spent five years with Whitbread plc as Group Commercial Director where she had overall responsibility for Marketing, Procurement and Supply Chain. She has previously held Marketing, Strategy and Sales Director roles with large retailers Argos/GUS, Dixons Stores Group and was Managing Director for Olympus Sportsworld; she started her marketing career with Unilever.
The Board is supported by Jon Millidge - Company Secretary
Jon Millidge was appointed Company Secretary in May 2010. He was previously Acting Group HR Director. He is also Chairman of National Design Consultancy Ltd and a Pension Scheme Trustee of the Royal Mail Retirement Savings Pension Plan and the Royal Mail Defined Contributions Plan.
Jon joined Royal Mail in 1985 as a graduate entrant, and has worked across all of the businesses of the Group notably as HR Director in Royal Mail Letters (2003 - 2004), Parcelforce Worldwide (2000 - 2003) and Subscription Services (1997 - 1998) and as General Manager in the Post Office (1999 - 2000). He was Group Director of Employee Relations prior to his current role.
Jon is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants and of The Chartered Institute of Personnel Development.
