Post Office boss Paula Vennells now from 'church resignation' to giving CBE back
Following ITV drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, there was a national outcry for Paula Vennells to be stripped of her CBE.
Dubbed as the country's biggest miscarriage of justice, the scandal saw hundreds of postmasters in the community wrongly accused of fraud and theft all because of errors made by a glitchy computing system. At the helm of the institution was Paula Vennells, played by The Crown star Lia Williams, who was the Chief Executive Officer of Post Office Limited from 2012 to 2019.
The four-part series shows the former boss making key decisions that changed the entire course of the investigation into how things went tragically wrong. It all started when new software, Horizon, was installed in branches across the country in 1999 in a bid to improve efficiency.
Paula Vennells was CEO of The Post Office from 2012 to 2019 (PA)However, errors in the technology led to incorrect financial discrepancies, resulting in hundreds of innocent postmasters being wrongly accused of stealing unaccounted cash that wasn't even missing. A total of 736 blameless individuals were prosecuted by the Post Office between the years 2000 and 2014, with terrible consequences.
And it wasn't until former sub-postmaster Alan Bates, who lost his life savings and his job, campaigned for 20 years that victims finally saw justice, resulting in £58 million in compensation. Vennells, 65, announced today that she is to hand back her CBE following the fallout of the Horizon IT scandal which led to the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of subpostmasters.
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The former chief executive, who ran the Post Office while it routinely denied there was a problem with its Horizon IT system, was appointed a CBE in December 2018.
Should Paula Vennells have handed back her CBE? Vote in our poll HERE to have your say.
She has since gone on to have a career with the NHS, but before leading the Post Office, she had a very different role in the church. Here, we take a look at her past jobs and where she is working now...
During Vennells' time there, the Post Office went from losing a staggering £120 million a year to making a profit. However, she defended the faulty computer system, insisting Horizon was 'robust'. This ultimately led to hundreds of postmasters being dragged through the courts. Vennells had already stepped down from her CEO position when the scandal was thrown into the spotlight with a public inquiry.
The mum-of-two later issued an apology to the victims, which was heavily scrutinised. "I am truly sorry we were unable to find both a solution and a resolution outside of litigation and for the distress this caused," she said. Despite vowing to work with 'the government inquiry to ensure staff and the public get the answers they deserve' after more convictions were quashed in 2021, Vennells still left her Post Office job with a whopping £400,000 bonus.
In the same year she quit, the businesswoman received a CBE for "services to the Post Office and charity" in the 2019 New Year's Honours List. On January 9, she announced she would be returning the honour after demands for her to do so intensified after an ITV drama returned the widespread miscarriage of justice to the spotlight.
In a statement, Ms Vennells said: "I continue to support and focus on cooperating with the Inquiry and expect to be giving evidence in the coming months. I have so far maintained my silence as I considered it inappropriate to comment publicly while the Inquiry remains ongoing and before I have provided my oral evidence.
Alan Bates demanded the former Post Office boss be stripped of her CBE - and she has now returned it (ITV)"I am, however, aware of the calls from subpostmasters and others to return my CBE. I have listened and I confirm that I return my CBE with immediate effect.
"I am truly sorry for the devastation caused to the sub-postmasters and their families, whose lives were torn apart by being wrongly accused and wrongly prosecuted as a result of the Horizon system. I now intend to continue to focus on assisting the Inquiry and will not make any further public comment until it has concluded.”
Alan Bates previously slammed the ex-CEO during an interview about the new programme with This Morning. Alan, who turned down his OBE, explained: "I was offered an OBE but I've always said it's not just about me. It's about the whole group. But as far as myself goes I couldn't accept it. I mean it would have been a slap in the face to the rest of the group because Paula Venells, the CEO for many years of Post Office, received a CBE for her services to Post Office.
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"Well, what service has she actually done? She's caused devastation to a major British institution that was at the heart of communities. She's ruined thousands of lives over the years. What on earth has she done to deserve that? It should be taken away now!"
Vennells stood down from positions on multiple boards following a court hearing in 2021, in which 39 convictions were overturned, including directorships at Dunelm and and Morrisons. She said: "It is obvious that my involvement with the Post Office has become a distraction from the good work undertaken by the boards I serve. I have therefore stepped down with immediate effect from all my board positions."
In her early years, Vennells, from Denton, Lancashire, studied at the private all-girls school, Manchester High School for Girls, and then graduated from the University of Bradford with a BA in 1981. She went on to work for brands including L'Oreal, Argos, and Dixons Retail before joining the Post Office as Group Network Director in 2007. She then worked as a Managing Director before landing the CEO role in 2012.
Away from her office work, Venells trained for Holy Orders on the St Albans and Oxford Ministry Course and became a priest in 2006. She served as a non-stipendiary minister at Church of St Owen, Bromham, in the Diocese of St Albans. However, since 2021, she has reportedly stepped back from her duties as an Anglican priest and reportedly resigned as a member.
Following her position at the helm of the Post Office, the businesswoman went on to be chair for Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust - which operates St Mary's, Hammersmith, Queen Charlotte's, Charing Cross and the Western Eye Hospital in north-west London - but resigned in April 2021. It is not clear what job role she is in now, but aside from work, the NHS boss is a mother of two children - Luke and Edward.
The Times reports that she is married, having met her husband John at the university dinghy club. A representative for Vennells told the Mirror that she is determined to assist in whatever way she can, so that lessons are learned. Alan Bates is now working on informing the Government about the impact the scandal had on the victims and their families’ mental health.
Mr Bates Vs The Post Office is available to stream on ITVX now
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