Royal Mail loses strategy chief

Adam Novak, who played a key role in developing the Royal Mail’s media markets strategy, is leaving the organisation after 12 years.

Novak, who has been director and general manager of Royal Mail Wholesale since the beginning of the year, says he has no definite job lined up, but that he plans to leave after Christmas.

“There are no further significant challenges left for me at Royal Mail, so the time has come to move on. I plan to stay in marketing and communications, and to seek a role or assignments that involve a strategic challenge, but also the chance to see through the implementation of a plan,” says Novak. Between 1999 and 2002, Novak was managing director of Royal Mail’s media markets, a role that made him responsible for repositioning direct mail as a mainstream medium alongside television and the press.

After a major restructure of Royal Mail’s senior management, which resulted in the departure of business and consumer markets managing director Gillian Wilmot, Novak was put in charge of the wholesale division. There his task was to prepare the Royal Mail for market liberalisation.

Novak joined the Royal Mail as marketing and sales director of the international division, later moving to Royal Mail National as general manager. He began his career at Rowntree, now Nestlé Rowntree, then spent ten years at SC Johnson.