| Rico Back | |
| Birth Place: | Hamburg, Germany |
| Occupation: | Businessman |
| Former CEO, Royal Mail | |
| Term: | June 2018 - May 2020 |
| Predecessor: | Moya Greene |
| Successor: | Stuart Simpson (interim) |
| Spouse: | Married |
| Children: | 4 |
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.[1] [2]
Rico Back was born in 1954 in Hamburg, Germany.[3]
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.[4] The company is now one of the largest ground-based deferred parcel networks in Europe.[5] Its revenues grew from £1 billion in 2002 to £3 billion in 2019.[6] It contributed 64% of Royal Mail Group's adjusted operating profit from 30% of group revenues.[7] In 2019 the division was estimated to be worth £2 billion based on an operating profit of £180 million.[8]
Back served as the CEO of GLS for 18 years before taking over as Royal Mail Group CEO in 2018.[9] As CEO of Royal Mail Parcels (2016 to 2018), Back was responsible for all international activities as well as the national parcel business.[2] [3] 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.[10]
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.[11] 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.[12]
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.[13] [14] 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.[15] In 2021, he also took on the position of the Chairman of the Board of Tiger Asset Management AG, based in Switzerland.[16]
Back and his family live in an apartment overlooking Lake Zurich,[17] Switzerland, where they have been resident since 2007 and where he is legally domiciled.[18]