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Kevin Hollinrake MP
Fa Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
Department for Business and Trade
Old Admiralty Building
Department for Aamiay Pace
Business & Trade London
SW1A 2DY
Henry Staunton
Chair, Post Office Limited
HB Markets Plc
20 Finsbury St 21 April 2023
London
EC2Y 9AQ
Dear Henry,
POST OFFICE: CEO REMUNERATION
Thank you for your letter of 14 November 2022 to Secretary of State Grant Shapps, and
your subsequent meeting with him in January to discuss your early priorities in your role as
Chair.
The Government continues to be grateful for Nick Read’s work in leading POL since his
appointment as Chief Executive Officer in September 2019, and I recognise the significant
commitment and effort that he is putting in to tackle the multiple challenges that the company
is facing.
There has been a fair amount of discussion and correspondence in recent months on the
question of Nick’s remuneration, including a decision by Secretary of State Shapps in Jan-
uary to retrospectively approve the bonus that was paid to Nick for FY21/22 and to approve
an increase to his base pay in line with the rest of POL employees from 1 April 2023 (up to
a maximum of 5%).
I understand that officials were clear with POL that the approval being sought was for a pay
increase to take effect from 1 April 2023 but the Remuneration Committee feels strongly that
the pay increase should be backdated to 1 April 2022.
As you will be aware, this is an extremely challenging climate for significant pay increases
in the public sector, especially in the context of the Budget, cost-of-living pressures and
widespread disquiet around postmaster remuneration.
Notwithstanding the above, I note that Nick has had no annual uplifts in pay since starting
in 2019. In recognition of Nick's continued public service, I am content to approve your sub-
sequent request that the 5% pay rise be backdated to 1 April 2022 in line with the backdating
agreed with unions to apply to the wider POL workforce. However, I am clear that this re-
places (and is not in addition to) the 1 April 2023 pay rise which Secretary of State Shapps
had approved, and no further pay rise for FY23/24 will be considered. Going forward, ap-
propriate steps need to be taken to ensure there is no further miscommunication between
POL and Government, as your shareholder, regarding pay requests and approvals.
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I hope my personal support of these measures in the context of this difficult pay environment
will reassure you of the high regard in which we hold Nick and his stewardship of this
nationally important institution. I understand from discussion with the Permanent Secretary
that you are also pursuing various changes that are intended to reduce the pressure on Nick,
such as recruiting a new Chief Operating Officer, and we are keen to support you on these
as much as we can.
1am copying Lisa Harrington, Chair of Post Office Limited Remuneration Committee to this
letter.
Yours sincerely,
KEVIN HOLLINRAKE MP
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State - Department for Business and Trade
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