Nick Read: Post Office chief executive 'exonerated of all misconduct claims' following report into behaviour

Post Office chief executive Nick Read has been “exonerated of all misconduct claims” following a report into his behaviour.

The external report, which has not been released publicly, was said by ex-Post Office chairman Henry Staunton to include allegations about Mr Read’s “conduct and lack of his management of the many governance and compliance issues”. Mr Staunton previously voiced his concern over the attitude from “Read and his henchmen” towards the company’s former HR director.

Mr Saunton told the Business and Trade Committee that they believed the former HR director to be a “pain in the arse for focusing on tackling the toxic culture rather than prioritising Read’s salary”. He said that the document also included evidence of Mr Read “badgering over his salary and repeated threats to resign”. The Post Office said that Mr Staunton’s claim contained “inaccuracies and falsehoods”. Mr Read also denied any claims of misconduct, telling staff last month that he “absolutely refutes” the claims made by Mr Staunton. The company has now said that the external report, which was complied by barrister Marianne Tutin of Devereux Chambers, had exonerated Mr Read of all allegations, adding that he retained the “united backing of the board”.

In a statement, the Post Office said: “Over the last few months an independent barrister has been investigating a Speak Up complaint into various allegations, which included a number of misconduct allegations against our CEO, Nick Read. Following several interviews and examination of documents by the barrister, Nick has been exonerated of all the misconduct allegations and has the full and united backing of the board to continue to lead the business.

“The board regards the Speak Up process as critical to the open and supportive culture it wants to encourage at the Post Office. The integrity of that Speak Up process relies on confidentiality for whistleblowers and therefore we will not be providing further detail on this or any other Speak Up investigation. It is unacceptable that this specific process was referred to in the public domain but notwithstanding that, Post Office wants to make clear that Speak Up allegations will always be thoroughly and consistently investigated, whoever they are aimed at.

“The external investigator has made some recommendations on where improvements can be made to Post Office’s processes. Those recommendations are helpful and we will ensure that they are properly and promptly addressed going forward. We will not be commenting further on this matter.”

A DBT spokesman said: “Ministers are pleased to confirm that the independent barrister has cleared the Post Office CEO, Nick Read, of the allegations against him and he remains in post and has the confidence of the government. We feel this report has drawn a line under the issue and now regard the matter as closed, which allows us to turn our full attention to ensuring postmasters are compensated quickly and fairly.

“The government has already paid out £190m to over 2,800 Post Office victims. This comes as legislation makes its way through Parliament to quash the convictions of hundreds of innocent sub-postmasters wrongly convicted as a result of the Horizon scandal.”