The boss of UK Mail has left the parcels and logistics company a week after it issued a second profits warning in three months as a result of prolonged problems at its new automated delivery centre.
The company said Guy Buswell had stepped down with immediate effect and by mutual agreement. UK Mail’s founder and chairman, Peter Kane, will run the business while the board looks for a replacement.
UK Mail issued a profit warning in August for the current year, blaming a glut of large parcels that its new hub in Ryton-on-Dunsmore, near Coventry, could not deal with. The problems led to a loss of customers and reduced volumes.
Its interim dividend was cut by a quarter last week after profit more than halved in the first six months. Buswell said problems at Ryton meant next year’s profits would be worse than expected. Buswell said at the time that investment in the high-speed sorting equipment would pay off but that the problems were taking longer to sort out than expected.
Kane said: “The board and I would like to thank Guy for his contribution to the company over the past 10 years in his role as chief executive and wish him well for the future.”
Buswell’s departure leaves UK Mail without a chief executive a month before Christmas and two days before Black Friday, when online orders are expected to create a record volumes of parcels. The company’s operations director, Carl Moore, left in October and his replacement is not due to start until the new year.
Parcels are a growth area as shopping moves online. Royal Mail is the biggest operator but UK Mail, which Kane built from a taxi firm he set up in 1971, says it is the next biggest group in the market. It delivers for businesses such as O2 and TalkTalk.
Buswell joined UK Mail in 1989 and, after a spell working elsewhere, rejoined in 1997, becoming chief executive in 2005. Kane was chief executive before becoming chairman in 2001.
UK Mail shares fell 3.4% to 309p in early trading on Wednesday and are down 41% since August’s profit warning.
