Head of DPD, Dwain McDonald, sacked after 'internal investigation'

Dwain McDonald, the chief executive of parcel delivery company DPD, has been sacked from his £1m-a-year job with “immediate effect” after an unspecified “internal investigation”.

The company has declined to explain why McDonald had been asked to leave the firm, or provide any details of the nature of the investigation.

A spokesman for DPD, which oversees a network of more than 5,000 professional drivers who deliver for John Lewis, Marks & Spencer and Amazon, did not reply to questions about why McDonald had been asked to leave or whether he would continue to be paid by the company.

McDonald, 54, had worked for DPD for 33 years having joined its predecessor as a 22-year-old salesman in 1988. He had served as chief executive since 2008. He was paid just over £1m in 2019, according to accounts filed at Companies House.

Yves Delmas, DPD’s chief operating officer for Europe, emailed staff on Monday to inform them: “Following an internal investigation, Dwain McDonald has today left the business with immediate effect.”

Delmas said he would take over as interim UK chief executive. He did not explain why McDonald had been asked to leave the company. An email sent to McDonald’s DPD email address has not received a response.

In 2018, McDonald admitted breaking the law by taking photographs on his mobile phone while driving on a motorway. He had boasted that he used his phone to take a picture of a DPD van while driving on the M62 between Manchester and Leeds. McDonald admitted to the crime while giving a slide presentation, which was captured on video and posted to YouTube in 2016.

DPD made headlines in 2018 when one of its couriers died of diabetes after missing appointments with specialists because he felt under pressure to cover his round and faced £150 daily penalties from the firm if he did not find cover.

Don Lane had collapsed twice, including once into a diabetic coma while at the wheel of his DPD van during deliveries, when the company fined him in July 2017 after he went to see a specialist about eye damage caused by diabetes. He collapsed again in September, and again in December 2017, having worked through illness during the Christmas rush. He died at the Royal Bournemouth hospital on 4 January 2018, leaving behind a widow, Ruth, and a 22-year-old son. He had worked for DPD for 19 years.