Who is Paula Vennells' husband, John Vennells? Ex-Post Office boss’ relationship explored as petition to strip her CBE gets half million signatures

Paula Vennells, who served as the managing director and CEO of Post Office Limited in the past, is trending in the headlines after a petition demanding to strip her CBE received record-breaking signatures. The news came after the release of the drama series, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, on ITV.

According to The Sun, Paula is married to John Vennells, who is the global vice-president of the engineering company, ABB. The two of them have been residing in Bedfordshire and are the parents of two children.

The petition to remove Paula's CBE was launched on the website, change.org, by a man named Andrew Castle. The description states that Paula was responsible for the "horrendous and vindictive treatment" of many sub-postmasters and it is necessary that she needs to be punished for the same. The description said:

"The largest miscarriage of justice in the history of the country is a scandal that should have severe consequences for those responsible. The first step should be the stripping of her CBE."

The page additionally requested to launch an investigation on Paula Vennells and find out if she and the board members knew anything about the flaws in the Horizon system.

According to Sky News, the ITV drama series contributed to getting more signatures in the petition. The petition was initially signed by 1,000 people and after the release of the show's final episode on January 4, 2023, the number increased to 350,000 and later touched the mark of 600,000.

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Paula Vennells has two children from her marriage to John Vennells: Relationship and Paula's time at Post Office Limited explored

As mentioned earlier, Paula Vennells is married to the ABB global vice-president, John, and they have two children, Edward and Luke. According to GH Gossip, John is British and reportedly spent his childhood in England.

While a lot of details about their relationship remain unknown, Paula and John first met at the university dinghy club, as per The Mirror. John has preferred to keep his personal and professional life away from the limelight and he is also not active on any social media platforms.

Paula Vennells has been involved in some controversies after she served as the CEO of Post Office Limited and they also managed to make some profits.

While the Horizon scandal was featured in the ITV show, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, it also included the character of Paula, portrayed by Lia Williams. The show elaborates on how Lia's decisions brought certain changes in the investigation of the scandal, leading to more problems.

The Mirror states that many postmasters were involved in legal issues after Paula described the Horizon system as "robust." Although she apologized to the victims of the scandal, her statement received heavy criticism since it read:

"I am truly sorry we were unable to find both a solution and a resolution outside of litigation and for the distress this caused."

Alan Bates, who was one of the scandal victims, recently appeared on This Morning and criticized the fact that Paula Vennells was given a CBE. Bates said that Paula destroyed a "major British institution" and she did not deserve that honor.