The surprise appointment comes off the back of a tumultuous period for Royal Mail, during which an ongoing process of modernising at the company resulted in more than 100,000 employees striking during October.
Donald Brydon, chairman at Royal Mail, said: "Adam has done and continues to do a remarkable job in leading Royal Mail through a major transformation in extremely difficult market circumstances.
"The group benefits from his strong leadership and commitment to ensuring that Royal Mail has the strength and profitability to continue to support the universal service and to build the platform for our future growth."
Royal Mail chief exec Crozier heading for ITV
Royal Mail has revealed that its chief executive Adam Crozier will be leaving the postal operator later this year in order to take over the same position at ITV.
