'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
On January 16, 2024, Nick Read, the current chief executive of the Post Office, was questioned at the ongoing public inquiry into the scandal. Read appeared alongside Paul Patterson, the director of Europe’s Fujitsu Services Limited, who apologized on behalf of his company and stated they were prepared for the redressal scheme.
The public inquiry, currently in its seventh phase, has been set up to get into the details of the scandal in which over 800 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses were wrongly accused of theft, false accounting, and fraud due to the faulty Horizon IT system between 1999 and 2019.
As per the Telegraph, in his statement to the inquiry committee, Nick Read disclosed how he could “only assume” it was the refusal to accept that hundreds of postmasters had been falsely accused over missing funds that led to the Post Office pushing back on the compensation.
Read also went on to say that the Post Office has “fought the provision of compensation” for those who were unfairly punished for so long due to “a culture of denial.
“I think that the most important cultural challenge that I have in my organization is to ensure that everybody sees and understands absolutely what has been going on."
During the investigation, Read also acknowledged that the Post Office might eventually be responsible for liabilities that are nearly £1 billion in size. Additionally, it was disclosed that only three of the more than seventy claims filed by the impacted former employees against the Post Office had been resolved with compensation thus far.
Nick Read joined the Post Office with hopes of “righting the wrongs of the past”
Nick Read is the newest CEO at the Post Office, joining the position in September 2019. Prior to this role, Read gained a wealth of experience across various roles, including serving as an Army Officer – as the Captain of the Royal Dragoon Guard - in the HM Forces for 4 years.
As per his LinkedIn profile, Read worked at Deloitte as a Manager for 3 years and moved on to take the position of Customer Service Director at Tesco PLC in 2001. He was a Customer Experience Director at Lloyd Banking from 2009 to 2011, after which he joined Vodafone as a Commercial Operations Director.
Read’s first employment as a CEO was in 2015 at Nisa Retail, after which he assumed the position of Group CEO at Extra Energy Supply Limited for a year and a half.
As the CEO of the Post Office, Nick Read had recently released a statement on the company’s official website, claiming he was here to “right the wrongs of the past.”
“When I became Chief Executive in September 2019, I was clear that the Post Office needed to apologize for events of the past and fully address them.”
He further said,
“My priority is to ensure that there is appropriate, meaningful compensation for victims. We are making substantial progress, with offers totalling more than £130 million, the vast majority of which are agreed and paid.”
On January 2, 2024, the Post Office also shared an apologetic message from their chief executive, Read, on X:
Netizens slam Nick Read for accepting heft bonuses amidst the unresolved Post Office scandal
According to Sky News, Nick Read’s answers to the public inquiry committee were reportedly infuriating. The chief executive claimed that the Post Office had “still not gotten to the bottom of it” when asked for the whereabouts of the cash paid by the ex-sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses to cover the gap shown by the faulty Horizon system.
A number of netizens have taken to X to express their frustration at Read’s seemingly vague answers and lack of awareness about the scandal.
The public inquiry into the Post Office scandal is currently in its seventh phase, with over 500 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses, including Alan Bates, still waiting on receiving compensation for the false accusations made against them because of Fujitsu's faulty Horizon IT system.
