The boss of the Post Office has admitted his various attempts to double his pay look “very poor” given so many branch owner-operators are still awaiting compensation over Horizon IT failings.
Nevertheless, speaking to the judge-led inquiry into the scandal on Friday, Nick Read denied ever threatening to resign over his remuneration.
Jason Beer KC, the counsel for the public inquiry, asked Read if his personal grievance over his compensation package became such a significant feature of his tenure that it affected his ability to carry out his duties as chief executive.
“No I don’t believe that to be the case,” he said. “I am very aware of the furore around my pay and remuneration, I am not in any way deaf to that. It looks very poor in light of the many victims still waiting for compensation. I very much regret the furore that exploded and as a consequence of that has been a distraction for everybody.”
Henry Staunton, a former chair of the Post Office, twice asked the government for Read’s pay to be doubled, and has told the inquiry that Read had threatened to leave over the issue.
Staunton, who said he only asked knowing that it would be rejected, told the inquiry that it was such an ongoing issue that he dedicated 10% of his 100-page written evidence to the inquiry to Read’s remuneration.
Jane Davies, a former HR director at the Post Office, bluntly said it had been an “obsession” for the CEO. Beer pressed Read for an answer as to whether the distraction caused by the issue affected his role.
“I was frustrated at times, but I don’t believe it was a distraction,” the chief executive said. “Other colleagues would corroborate that it was not something I was perpetually discussing. There is no question that two individuals who made the allegations [Staunton and Davies] have left the company under something of a cloud. So I can understand why they made these comments.”
Beer said other Post Office executives had said it was an issue, citing comments including that Read had said he was prepared to make a “drama” out of his compensation as well as file a grievance against the company.
“I was operating in a role that bears no relationship to the one I was recruited to do,” Read said. “The complexity and leadership challenges were clearly something that was frustrating and I vented that frustration. I am still very much in role now. I didn’t offer my resignation or tender my resignation or anything like that.”
Tim Moloney KC, a barrister representing branch owner-operators, asked Read whether the leadership team at the Post Office had been “living in a dreamworld” after the 2019 high court rulings that were highly critical of the state-owned body.
Read, giving his third and final day of testimony at the inquiry, replied that some managers were “in denial” and “some were in paralysis of the judgment that was made” and “limited contingency had been put in place for the prospect of losing the litigation”.
He also expressed regret that the Post Office had not yet been able to replace the Horizon IT system with an alternative, meaning it was possible that branch owner-operators could still be using the system until 2030. He said he had been “spread too thinly”, adding the failure “was a big regret of mine”.
Read, who joined the Post Office as chief executive in 2019, is due to step down from the role at the end of March.
The inquiry continues.
