Post by wapentake on Jan 6, 2024 17:25:46 GMT
Mr Crozier subsequently became chief executive of ITV and, strangely enough, he does not get a mention in the ITV programme which is creating all the ruckus. He is now the chairman of BT.
Vennells
On her watch, the Post Office sought to bury the scandal, with Vennells not only obfuscating and giving misleading information to MPs, but also backing her organisation's strategy of aggressively prosecuting innocent sub-postmasters using computer data it knew was flawed.
READ MORE: Victims of the Horizon scandal take aim at ex-Post Office chief Paula Vennells as they relive the anxious wait to be arrested and facing up to losing everything when they were wrongly accused of theft and fraud
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Vennells was, among other things, personally responsible for the sacking of Second Sight, a forensic accounting firm brought in to get to the bottom of the scandal, just days before it was due to publish its excoriating findings. She also sanctioned the combative legal strategy her organisation pursued against victims of the scandal who sought recompense.
For this, she was richly rewarded, earning £4.9 million including huge performance-related bonuses and a CBE to boot, during the seven years before she resigned in 2019. Months after she went, the High Court awarded £58 million in damages to 555 persecuted sub-postmasters.
That decision didn't deter Vennells's ambitions. Instead of retiring to her £2 million Grade II-listed farmhouse, she took up a string of lucrative high-status jobs. The NHS made her chair of a large trust. The Cabinet Office gave her an advisory role. Supermarket Morrisons gave her an £89,000-a-year non-executive directorship and home retailer Dunelm paid her £55,000 to join its board.
The Church of England, where Vennells served as a part-time priest, meanwhile decided to put her on the committee overseeing its ethical investments.
READ MORE: Victims of the Horizon scandal take aim at ex-Post Office chief Paula Vennells as they relive the anxious wait to be arrested and facing up to losing everything when they were wrongly accused of theft and fraud
ADVERTISEMENT
Vennells was, among other things, personally responsible for the sacking of Second Sight, a forensic accounting firm brought in to get to the bottom of the scandal, just days before it was due to publish its excoriating findings. She also sanctioned the combative legal strategy her organisation pursued against victims of the scandal who sought recompense.
For this, she was richly rewarded, earning £4.9 million including huge performance-related bonuses and a CBE to boot, during the seven years before she resigned in 2019. Months after she went, the High Court awarded £58 million in damages to 555 persecuted sub-postmasters.
That decision didn't deter Vennells's ambitions. Instead of retiring to her £2 million Grade II-listed farmhouse, she took up a string of lucrative high-status jobs. The NHS made her chair of a large trust. The Cabinet Office gave her an advisory role. Supermarket Morrisons gave her an £89,000-a-year non-executive directorship and home retailer Dunelm paid her £55,000 to join its board.
The Church of England, where Vennells served as a part-time priest, meanwhile decided to put her on the committee overseeing its ethical investments.
Vennells's predecessor Adam Crozier prospered after the Blair government handed him the chief executive role at the Post Office in 2003.
For seven years, until his departure in 2010, the former boss of the Football Association was Britain's best-paid civil servant, sometimes earning more than £3 million a year in pay and bonuses — despite presiding over the closure of more than 7,000 Post Office branches.
READ MORE: Lib Dem leader Ed Davey is accused of 'airbrushing' his involvement in the fallout of the Post Office scandal
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Of course, Crozier's reign also coincided with the wrongful conviction of scores of innocent sub-postmasters. Indeed, it was during his tenure that the Post Office began issuing aggressive denials to news organisations which had begun to question the reliability of the Horizon system.
Oddly, however, he does not once feature in ITV's drama. Some wonder if that could be because of one salient fact: after quitting the Post Office he spent seven years as head of ITV and ITV Studios.
The broadcaster denies a cover-up, however. 'Mr Bates vs The Post Office tells the story of the Post Office scandal from the perspective of a select group of former sub-postmasters who formed the Justice for Sub-postmasters Alliance, led by Alan Bates,' explains ITV. 'Alan's campaign for justice only began to make headway when Paula Vennells was promoted to chief executive, so that's the relationship we dramatise.'
Crozier continues to be blessed with good fortune, judging by his recent CV. In 2021, he was appointed chairman of BT, on a basic salary of £700,000, and he's also chair of market research firm Kantar. Other sinecures have included boardroom roles at Premier Inn owner Whitbread, clothing giant ASOS and Vue Cinemas.
Like all big jobs, they've brought spoils: in 2022, Crozier was able to bulldoze a new home, purchased on a private estate in Surrey, to build a £5 million mansion.
For seven years, until his departure in 2010, the former boss of the Football Association was Britain's best-paid civil servant, sometimes earning more than £3 million a year in pay and bonuses — despite presiding over the closure of more than 7,000 Post Office branches.
READ MORE: Lib Dem leader Ed Davey is accused of 'airbrushing' his involvement in the fallout of the Post Office scandal
ADVERTISEMENT
Of course, Crozier's reign also coincided with the wrongful conviction of scores of innocent sub-postmasters. Indeed, it was during his tenure that the Post Office began issuing aggressive denials to news organisations which had begun to question the reliability of the Horizon system.
Oddly, however, he does not once feature in ITV's drama. Some wonder if that could be because of one salient fact: after quitting the Post Office he spent seven years as head of ITV and ITV Studios.
The broadcaster denies a cover-up, however. 'Mr Bates vs The Post Office tells the story of the Post Office scandal from the perspective of a select group of former sub-postmasters who formed the Justice for Sub-postmasters Alliance, led by Alan Bates,' explains ITV. 'Alan's campaign for justice only began to make headway when Paula Vennells was promoted to chief executive, so that's the relationship we dramatise.'
Crozier continues to be blessed with good fortune, judging by his recent CV. In 2021, he was appointed chairman of BT, on a basic salary of £700,000, and he's also chair of market research firm Kantar. Other sinecures have included boardroom roles at Premier Inn owner Whitbread, clothing giant ASOS and Vue Cinemas.
Like all big jobs, they've brought spoils: in 2022, Crozier was able to bulldoze a new home, purchased on a private estate in Surrey, to build a £5 million mansion.
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