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Rico Back (born 1954) is a German businessman. He is a founding member and former CEO of German Parcel (now GLS Group). He was also the CEO of Royal Mail from 2018 to 2020.

Early life

Rico Back was born in 1954 in Hamburg, Germany.

Career

In 1989, Back was a founding member and managing director of German Parcel, a European-wide parcel logistics firm. In 1999 Back led the sale of German Parcel to Royal Mail, subsequently rebranded as GLS. The company is now one of the largest ground-based deferred parcel networks in Europe. Its revenues grew from £1 billion in 2002 to £3 billion in 2019. It contributed 64% of Royal Mail Group's adjusted operating profit from 30% of group revenues. In 2019 the division was estimated to be worth £2 billion based on an operating profit of £180 million.

Back served as the CEO of GLS for 18 years before taking over as Royal Mail Group CEO in 2018. As CEO of Royal Mail Parcels (2016 to 2018), Back was responsible for all international activities as well as the national parcel business. He succeeded Moya Greene as Royal Mail CEO when she retired in June 2018. He received the same £790,000 pay and benefits package as Greene, plus a possible £1.3 million bonus and a £6 million golden hello; his personal taxes were paid in and to the UK.

During his tenure, UK parcel volume growth reached a four-year peak in 2018 and Royal Mail's share of the UK parcel market grew to 53% by volume by March 2018, driven by winning business from online retailers. In its 2019 full-year results, a year into Back's tenure as CEO, Royal Mail announced a five-year turnaround plan focused on expanding the company's parcels business internationally, addressing the growth in online deliveries. As part of the plan, Royal Mail pledged to invest a further £1.8 billion in its UK postal service.

On 15 May 2020, Back resigned as CEO of Royal Mail Group, with Keith Williams taking immediate control before being replaced as interim CEO by Stuart Simpson. His departure came as Royal Mail experienced a rise in parcel volumes and a downturn in letter volumes during the COVID-19 pandemic. The company's revenues annual revenues in April 2020 had fallen by £22 million against the previous year.

In 2020, Back founded SKR and Back Enterprises, investment and consulting companies for investors, board members and executives. In 2021, he also took on the position of the Chairman of the Board of Tiger Asset Management AG, based in Switzerland.

Personal life

Back and his family live in an apartment overlooking Lake Zurich, Switzerland, where they have been resident since 2007 and where he is legally domiciled.

References

1. "Rico Back to head Royal Mail". Logistics Manager. 2018-04-20. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
2. "Login - DVZ". www.dvz.de. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
3. "Login - DVZ". www.dvz.de. Retrieved 4 June 2018.
4. "Who is Rico Back, the incoming Royal Mail CEO?". Tamebay. 2018-04-20. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
5. Gordona, Michael (2018-09-03). "Royal Mail buys Canadian company for £213 million". Investor Times. Retrieved 2020-08-26.
6. "Royal mail share price forecast". Capital.com.
7. "Royal mail profits dive jobs cut shares slump". www.ii.co.uk.
8. "These five uk value stocks could offer potential long term gain". TrustNet.com. 10 June 2020.
9. "Rico Back to head Royal Mail". Logistics Manager. 2018-04-20. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
10. Topham, Gwyn (20 April 2018). "Moya Greene to step down as Royal Mail's chief executive". the Guardian. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
11. "Royal Mail plc Annual Report and Financial Statements 2017-18" (PDF). 2017.
12. Hussain, Shashwat Awasthi, Noor Zainab (2019-05-22). "Royal Mail puts parcels at heart of growth plan". Reuters. Archived from the original on May 22, 2019. Retrieved 2020-09-07.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
13. Gordona, Michael (2018-09-03). "Royal Mail buys Canadian company for £213 million". Investor Times. Retrieved 2020-08-31.
14. Bow, Michael (15 May 2020). "Royal Mail chief executive Rico Back in shock exit from postal giant". Evening Standard. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
15. "SKR: Rico Back holt sich Verstärkung". DVZ News (in German). 2022-06-07. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
16. "Former Royal Mail CEO Rico Back joins Tiger Asset Management as chairman". Reuters. 2021-05-07. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
17. Collingridge, John. "Will a strike cancel Christmas for Royal Mail's boss, Rico Back?".
18. "MOYA GREENE TO RETIRE FROM ROYAL MAIL GROUP IN SEPTEMBER 2018. RICO BACK WILL BE SUCCESSOR". www.royalmailgroup.com. Retrieved 23 April 2018.

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