Paula Vennells: How Post Office chief and ordained priest’s distinguished career fell apart

The role of Ms Vennells during the Post Office scandal is under scrutiny at the Horizon IT inquiry

The distinguished business career of the former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells crumbled following the Horizon scandal.

ITV drama, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, ensured a spotlight was firmly placed on the 65-year-old, who was in charge of the Post Office during one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British legal history.

More than 700 subpostmasters were prosecuted by the Post Office and handed criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015 as Fujitsu’s faulty Horizon IT system made it appear as though money was missing at their branches.

Former Post Office chief executive Paula Vennells arriving at the Horizon inquiry (EPA)

Ms Vennells had a long-standing career at the Post Office, having started as group network director in 2007, then becoming managing director in 2010, before being promoted to the top job five years later.

This week she is giving evidence at the Post Office inquiry as she faces serious questions about her conduct in the role. Below we look at her career.

From university to Unilever

Ms Vennells joined the Post Office after holding a number of management positions at L’Oreal, Whitbread, Dixons and Argos, having started her career as a graduate trainee at consumer goods giant Unilever in 1981. She studied Russian, French and economics at the University of Bradford and has a diploma in theology from Oxford University.

She led the Post Office for nearly seven years, taking the helm in 2012 – the same year it split from Royal Mail as part of the latter’s privatisation.

Despite not holding the chief executive position in her early years at the company, she still had key decisions to make.

The Horizon IT inquiry heard, during her time as group network director, she probably signed off a £300,000 trial bill after subpostmaster Lee Castleton was accused of having a £25,000 shortfall at his branch.

Ms Vennells is an ordained priest and has held management positions in major UK chains (PA Wire)

Promoted to Post Office chief executive

Ms Vennells’ tenure as chief executive was marred from the start, coming into the role as the Post Office suffered financial woes, leading to sweeping cost-cutting measures that saw thousands of branches close across the UK.

Her promotion also came as the company began to investigate allegations made by a number of subpostmasters about the IT system at the centre of the scandal.

There was further controversy with expert witnesses allegedly giving false evidence during prosecutions of subpostmasters, and victims of the scandal being told they were the “only one” experiencing problems.

Appointed CBE

Ms Vennells was appointed CBE in the 2019 New Years Honours List “for services to the Post Office and to charity”.

But she has faced heavy criticism over her handling of the scandal, finally stepping down from her role as chief executive in February 2019.

Questions have been raised over the timing of her departure – with legal cases brought by subpostmasters such as lead campaigner Alan Bates being tried around the same time.

In the face of mounting pressure over the Horizon scandal, and a petition which attracted more than 1.2 million signatures, Ms Vennells handed back her CBE earlier this year.

She has since also quit boardroom roles at retailers Morrisons and Dunelm as subpostmasters began having their convictions overturned.

Ms Vennells, likewise, stepped down from her role as chairwoman of the Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in 2021, having taking on the job in April 2019 soon after leaving the Post Office.

Ms Vennells is answering questions at the Horizon inquiry (Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry/PA Wire)

Ordained priest

Alongside her corporate career, Ms Vennells was also ordained as an Anglican priest in 2006.

She served at several churches in Bedfordshire and reportedly harboured ambitions of rising to the top levels of the organisation.

Ms Vennells had been shortlisted to become Bishop of London - one of the church’s most senior positions -  in 2017, according to the BBC. Two sources told the broadcaster that the Archbishop of Canterbury himself had backed Ms Vennells’ application and was said to be a supporter of hers.

She had sat on the church’s Ethical Investment Advisory Group (EIAG), but took a leave of absence in 2020 and resigned the following April.

Months later Ms Vennells also stepped away from her associate minister role in the St Albans diocese as she came under increased scrutiny amid the Post Office scandal.

Archbishop Justin Welby, when asked about Ms Vennells’s role in the church, said “more questions” should have been asked about her involvement in the EIAG.

“It is clear that more questions should have been asked about the appropriateness of that involvement when more had come to light about the Horizon scandal,” he told The Guardian. “We recognise this and will need to reflect on it.”

“The Post Office Horizon IT scandal is a terrible miscarriage of justice that has led to heartbreaking suffering for many subpostmasters,” he added.

“We hope and pray that the inquiry and the government’s promise of legislation will move forward the process of proper justice and compensation for the subpostmasters who have been so badly impacted.”