Nigel Stapleton takes over the chairmanship of Postcomm from the close of the Commission’s 49th meeting today. He succeeds Graham Corbett who has chaired Postcomm’s seven independent commissioners since the organisation was created in 2000.
Mr Stapleton said:
“We have to thank Graham for his leadership of the Commission during a critical period when the foundations of a fully competitive UK postal market have been set in place. Under his guidance Postcomm has implemented an operational licensing system, an effective price control and a framework for the introduction of competition in postal services. The recent announcement by Royal Mail and UK Mail that they have agreed Heads of Terms for ’downstream’ access to Royal Mail’s network completes the establishment of those foundations
“Supported by a strong team of Postcomm commissioners and staff, I am looking forward to leading the next stage of our work – creating a truly competitive and innovative postal market in the UK, while maintaining the universal service. At the moment, there are barriers to entry that have enabled Royal Mail, despite its own acknowledged inefficiencies, to retain more than 99% of the letters market. I want to see Royal Mail succeed with its renewal plan and for those entry barriers to be removed.”
Mr Stapleton has been appointed by the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, Patricia Hewitt, initially for a three-year term. He will work three days a week for Postcomm.
Notes for editors
Nigel Stapleton is chairman of UNIQ plc, a pan-European convenience food company, and a non-executive director of the London Stock Exchange plc and Reliance Security Group plc. His earlier business career was with Unilever for 18 years and with Reed International, as Chairman and Chief Executive of the leading publishing and information company, Reed Elsevier, for 13 years.
Born in 1946, Mr Stapleton is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants, and has a degree in economics from Cambridge University.
Postcomm – the Postal Services Commission – is an independent regulator. It has been set up to further the interests of users of postal services. Postcomm’s main tasks are to:
Seek to ensure a universal postal service at an affordable uniform tariff
Further the interests of users wherever appropriate through competition
License postal operators
Control Royal Mail’s prices and quality of service
Give advice to government on the future of the post office network.
Postcomm’s policies are steered by a board of seven commissioners, headed by its Chairman.
More information
Chris Webb
Tel: 020 7593 2114
Mobile: 07779 635881
E-mail: chris.webb@psc.gov.uk.
Joseph Bonner
Tel: 020 7593 2116
Mobile 07773 329902
E-mail: joseph.bonner@psc.gov.uk
Jonathan Rooper
Tel: 020 7766 1210
Mobile 07740 099868
E-mail: jonathan.rooper@cardewchancery.com
