Britain's CEO of scandal-ridden Post Office will step down next year
The chief executive of Britain’s scandal-ridden Post Office will step down next year
LONDON — The chief executive of Britain’s scandal-ridden Post Office will step down next year, the company said Wednesday, as criticism mounts over the speed of compensation payments to branch managers wrongly convicted of theft or fraud because of a faulty computer system.
Nick Read said it has been a “great privilege” to have been chief executive of the company during an “extraordinarily challenging time for the business and for postmasters.”
Read, who took the helm in 2019, announced in July his intention to temporarily step back from the role to give his “entire attention” to the next stage of the ongoing inquiry into what is one of the country’s biggest miscarriages of justice that saw hundreds of branch managers wrongly convicted. The next stage of the inquiry is due to begin next week.
“There remains much to be done for this great U.K. institution but the journey to reset the relationship with postmasters is well under way and our work to support justice and redress for postmasters will continue," said Read, who was not at the company when the miscarriages of justice took place.
Read succeeded Paula Vennells, who has given back her Commander of the Order of the British Empire title that she received in 2019, following criticism of her actions in the top job.
The scandal around the Horizon IT scandal has been known for years but really became headline news at the start of this year when a four-part television docudrama aired.
The ITV show, “Mr. Bates vs the Post Office,” told the story of branch manager Alan Bates, played by Toby Jones, who has spent nearly two decades trying to expose the scandal and exonerate his peers.
Bates
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