Mr Thompson, who also previously worked for Apple and is on Coca-Cola’s digital advisory board, insisted that the cuts were a continuation of already agreed proposals with Unite and the Communication Workers Union to remove 1.2m working hours from the business.

“Ourselves and our unions are totally sticking with our agreements. I am delighted that that’s the case,” he said.

“As we have gone along this journey, we have had a lot of informal conversations with Unite already to get us to this point. But it is worth bearing in mind that it is a consultation. So we will see what it is that comes.”

Royal Mail was controversially privatised in 2013 and floated on the London Stock Exchange under then business secretary Sir Vince Cable.

The public debut was at the time the most popular on record, but shares have sunk as bosses have struggled from union resistance to modernise the postal monopoly.

Over the past 18 months, however, tensions have cooled after chairman Keith Williams, the former British Airways chief, struck a deal with union leaders to cut costs and change working practices.

Royal Mail shares have risen by more than 250pc since April 2020 on the back of better labour relations.

Daniel Kretinsky, the so-called Czech sphinx, has been one of the biggest beneficiaries. He began stake-building two years ago and is now Royal Mail’s largest investor with a 19pc shareholding worth more than £800m.