Business and Trade Select Committee Evidence Session - 27 February - colleague message from Ben Tidswell, Senior Independent Director

Message from Ben Tidswell, Senior Independent Director on the Post Office Board, to all Post Office colleagues following today's (27 February 2024) Business and Trade Select Committee Evidence Session:

Dear Colleagues,

Some of you may have watched the Select Committee today or seen press reports about it. Accordingly, I wanted to write to you to deal with some of the allegations made by the former chairman.

Like many of you, I know that Nick Read has at times felt the weight of Post Office’s awful history on his shoulders. It is no surprise, and is entirely appropriate, that he will have discussed this, in confidence, with the former chairman. However, to my knowledge he has never tendered his resignation and he continues to accept leadership responsibility for the challenges that we are all working on each day.

Post Office has received a complaint against a number of people within the organisation – Nick is one of those employees – and I am sure you will all agree that Post Office should investigate every complaint with due process. Nick accepts this and has cooperated fully with the investigation.

In spite of the distractions happening around us, the Board asks that we all remain focused on supporting the government to bring about faster justice and redress to victims, and helping build a Post Office that supports the Postmasters of today.

Ben Tidswell

Senior Independent Director – Post Office Board