POL00410946
POL00410946
From: Neil Hayward{.
Sent: Wed 19/02/2014 1
To: Paula VennellsI
Martin George}
Kennett[r
Chris Au
Davies”
Lyons[é~
Subject: Richard Callard - Shareholder Executive/BiS & new NED
FYI —I recently met with Richard during his induction and mine to the Post Office.
He provided me with some insight on the things that interest him. So, as he catches up with the rest of us, I thought I
should share what I learnt so that we can each prepare accordingly (of course you may already know all of this and if
you do, sorry!):
- The Post Office is hugely politically important. Whilst it is probably the third biggest of the c 20 or so
businesses being managed through the Shareholder Executive, it carries the highest profile. Everything that
we do has the potential to create issues for ministers. This is partly why he/they will always ask us detailed
questions. He also explained that HM Treasury applies pressure to ensure that the investment in the Post
Office is doing what we/they said it would do.
- Network Transformation is therefore critical. He is keen to discover if the new formats we are rolling out
will/are leading to better service/revenue growth. Equally Ministers are mindful of the local politics of
decisions to change formats or shape of the network. We can expect him to be interested in the detail of this
—on an on-going basis. In particular stakeholder engagement — NFSP.
- Mutualisation — Whilst this has been of particular interest to Liberal Democrats in the past, explaining what
we really intend from the 20/20 strategy and how we are going to create mutual ways of working (and how
this translates into future ownership models) will, in his view, require us to do more work this year, and
ensure this work is understood and supported by other political parties. He sees the launch of our public
purpose as a first step, and the POAC as a vehicle through which mutualisation can be explored.
- Business Risk — Mails — He is interested in how the commercial relationship with the Royal Mail is developing
post separation, with an eye on the Mails contract and the risk of this needing to be or being re-negotiated.
He wants to be assured that we are preparing for potential difficulty/different scenarios.
- Business Opportunity — FS — He thinks that this is an opportunity to accelerate growth plans and will be
interested in the detail of our plans.
- Government Business — He seemed to support the idea that the Post Office should have a deeper relationship
with branches of Government — as a means of developing business. He thinks we need to get close to and
understand what the Government Digital service unit is intending as this is a risk.
- State aid/EU rules — He himself has to make sure that the funding agreement now put in place for the Post
Office fits within the framework laid down by the EU — and ensure it is approved. He wasn’t suggesting this
would be a problem, but that it might create a workflow for him and us.
- Remuneration — we discussed the scorecard and the various issues re thresholds — and he welcomed the
meeting that is now in his diary for 6" March.
This was a good conversation. The inference I draw though is that he will want to get underneath the surface a bit.
Hope this helps.
NEIL
Neil Hayward I Group People Director
POL00410946
POL00410946
148 Old Street, London, EC1V 9HQ
neil hayward¢
postoffice.co.uk
@postofficenews