Paula Vennells

Paula Anne Vennells, CBE, FRSA (born 1959) is a British businesswoman and Anglican priest. She was Chief Executive officer of the Post Office Limited from 2012 to 2019 before assuming the chair of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in London.

The Reverend

Paula Vennells

CBE FRSA
Vennells in 2016
Born1959 (age 60–61)
NationalityBritish
OccupationBusinesswoman

Early life and education

Vennells was born in 1959, and grew up in Denton, Lancashire.[1] Having won a funded place, she was educated at the Manchester High School for Girls, an all-girls independent school in Manchester.[1] She then studied Russian and French at the University of Bradford, graduating in 1981 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree.[2][3]

Career

Vennells began her career as a graduate trainee at Unilever in 1981.[1][3] She went on to work for L'Oreal, Dixons Retail, Argos, and Whitbread.[3]

In 2007, she joined the Post Office as Group Network Director.[4] On 1 April 2012, she became its Chief Executive Officer.[5] During her time as CEO, the Post Office went from losing £120 million a year to making a profit.[6]

In February 2019, it was announced that she would step down from her Post Office role and in April that year took over as chair of Imperial College Healthcare Trust,[7] which runs St Mary's, Hammersmith, Queen Charlotte's, Charing Cross and the Western Eye Hospital in north-west London. She also became a non-executive board member of the Cabinet Office.[8]

In December 2019, the Post Office paid out £58 million to sub-postmasters who were awarded compensation for past false prosecutions of monetary theft[9] that had been based on faulty evidence from the Horizon IT system. The judge presiding on the case, Mr Justice Fraser, described the Post Office's approach to the case as "institutional obstinacy" that:

...amounted, in reality, to bare assertions and denials that ignore what has actually occurred, at least so far as the witnesses called before me in the Horizon Issues trial are concerned. It amounts to the 21st century equivalent of maintaining that the earth is flat.

Vennells subsequently apologised to workers affected by the scandal, saying:[8]

I am truly sorry we were unable to find both a solution and a resolution outside of litigation and for the distress this caused

In January 2020, as the High Court case against the Post Office ended, Vennells’s tenure as CEO was strongly criticised by Conservative peer Lord Arbuthnot, who said: “The hallmark of Paula Vennells’ time as CEO was that she was willing to accept appalling advice from people in her management and legal teams. The consequences of this were far-reaching for the Post Office and devastating for the subpostmasters. However, there seem to have been no consequences for her”.[10] He described the behaviour of the Post Office under her leadership as “both cruel and incompetent”, and said that “she was faced with a moral choice and she took the wrong one, the one which allowed hundreds of subpostmasters to be falsely accused, humiliated and ruined by the organisation she ran”.[11]

In early March 2020, she resigned from her Cabinet Office position.[12]

On 19 March 2020, Vennells was harshly criticised in the House of Commons, particularly by Kevan Jones, MP for North Durham, who said:[13]

Obviously, as a board member she knew what was going on, including the strategy in the court case and the bugs in the system. What happened? She got a CBE in the new year’s honours list for services to the Post Office. That is just rubbing salt into the wounds of these innocent people. There is a case for her having that honour removed, and I would like to know how she got it in the first place when the court case is ongoing. Added to that, she is now chair of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. Again, I would like to know why and what due diligence was done on her as an individual...

In a BBC Panorama programme screened on 8 June 2020, reporter Nick Wallis is seen phoning Vennells, who terminates the call rather than answer his questions. Wallis says "this is one of the biggest frustrations of covering this story...the consistent refusal of the Chief Executive and the people at the top to answer serious questions about what has been happening".[14] Vennells was due to appear before a parliamentary select committee to answer questions about the scandal on 24 March 2020, but this was cancelled due to the Coronavirus crisis and MPs' questions are being dealt with in writing.[15]

The Care Quality Commission is due to discuss concerns about her continuing role in the NHS on 8 July 2020.[11]

Ordained ministry

From 2002 to 2005, Vennells trained for Holy Orders on the St Albans and Oxford Ministry Course.[2] She was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 2005 and as a priest in 2006.[2] Since ordination, she has served as a non-stipendiary minister at Church of St Owen, Bromham in the Diocese of St Albans.[2][16]

On 14 June 2020 Vennells’s handling of the Post Office scandal and the relationship with her role as a priest were highlighted by the BBC’s morning religious radio programme. A convicted former postmaster called for the Bishop of St Albans to strip Vennells of office, Labour MP Chi Onwurah said she must be held accountable, and journalist Nick Wallis reported “real anger” that Vennells appeared to have been protected by “the establishment” including the Church of England, which many see as immoral. The church refused to take part but a statement from the Bishop said that he would consider acting if he received conclusive evidence of her wrongdoing.[17]

Honours

In the 2019 New Year Honours, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) "for services to the Post Office and to charity". [18]

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References
  1. Shah, Oliver (17 August 2014). "Part time curate ordained to deliver salvation for Post Office". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  2. "Paula Anne Vennells". Crockford's Clerical Directory (online ed.). Church House Publishing. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  3. Armitstead, Louise (8 December 2013). "Monday interview: Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  4. Higginson, Richard. "Paula Vennells: a profile". Faith in Business. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  5. "Our leadership". Post Office. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  6. "Post Office Group Chief Executive, Paula Vennells, Awarded Cbe in New Year's Honours List". Mynewsdesk. 28 December 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  7. Cotton, Barney (19 February 2019). "Post Office CEO leaves role". Business Leader. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  8. Glass, Katie. "Victims of the Post Office's sub-postmaster scandal on their decade of hell". Archived from the original on 9 February 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
  9. "'I dreamt of victory against the Post Office'". 11 December 2019 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  10. Flinders, Karl (4 June 2020). "MPs' investigation into Post Office Horizon IT scandal bares teeth". www.computerweekly.com. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  11. Flinders, Karl (22 June 2020). "Care Quality Commission to discuss concerns over Paula Vennells' NHS role". www.computerweekly.com. Retrieved 5 July 2020.
  12. Horizon Settlement: Future Governance of Post Office Ltd – in the House of Commons at 3:30 pm on 19th March 2020
  13. "Horizon Settlement: Future Governance of Post Office Ltd - Hansard". hansard.parliament.uk. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
  14. Presenter: Nick Wallis (8 June 2020). "Scandal at the Post Office". Panorama. 26:00 minutes in. BBC. BBC One.
  15. "Post Office & Horizon inquiry launched by BEIS Committee". www.parliament.uk. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 14 June 2020.
  16. "The Benefice Ministerial Team". Bromham Benefice. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  17. Presenter: William Crawley (14 June 2020). "Post Office IT dispute, Carers week; Places of worship reopening". Sunday. 27:00 minutes in. BBC. BBC Radio 4.
  18. "No. 62507". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2018. p. N9.

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