Department for
Business, Energy
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Kelly Tolhurst MP
Department for Business, Energy &
Industrial Strategy
1 Victoria Street
London
: SW1H OET
& Industrial Strategy
To
E enquiries
Tim Parker Www. aov ule
Chair of Post Office Ltd
Post Office ‘h
Finsbury Dials 20 March 2019
20 Finsbury Street
London EC2Y 9AQ
Dear Tim
Thank you for your recommendation and supporting evidence for appointing Al Cameron as
interim Chief Executive between the departure of Paula Vennells in April 2019 and the
appointment of a permanent successor. In addition, I thank you for your wider advice in your
recent meeting with the Permanent Secretary, who has briefed me on this, and for your
support for the strategic priorities set out by the Permanent Secretary in the Chair's Letter.
I am content to approve Al’s appointment but please note that his remuneration as Interim
CEO remains subject to the approval of the Chief Secretary to the Treasury. Should the
retention payment element be approved, we would expect the retention payment to be subject
to the discretion of the Board. In exercising your discretion, we would ask that you take
account of Al’s performance in the role of interim Chief Executive and his performance in
achieving a smooth handover to the permanent Chief Executive if he is unsuccessful in
securing the role.
With Al stepping up to Chief Executive, POL should appoint an interim CFO to help manage
the business and avoid excessive concentration of responsibility in one person. The interim
CFO should sit on POL's board to ensure that they can be effective in discharging their
responsibilities. In addition, Al's current COO responsibilities should move to an existing
member of the Executive Team. I am content to delegate this appointment to POL's Board to
enable a swift transition and since the appointment will cover a relatively short time period.
However, the remuneration for this role also remains subject to CST approval.
Like you, I am keen to appoint a new, permanent Chief Executive as soon as possible to give
the Post Office the long-term term stability it needs. Therefore, I have asked my officials to
expedite the recruitment process to ensure that a permanent Chief Executive is in place within
six months and I would be grateful for Post Office’s assistance in achieving this. In addition, I
consider a diverse range of perspectives to be key in selecting an appropriate candidate and,
therefore, I have asked my officials to arrange for an additional, independent member to sit on
the selection panel. In the meantime, I am considering the proposed remuneration package for
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the permanent Chief Executive, but I can confirm now that government will no longer allow the
payment of allowances such as private medical cover, car allowance or cash in lieu of pension
for any future appointments.
In the immediate term, I would like POL’s leadership team to focus on more ambitious
strategic plans to deal with future challenges, including work on making it more attractive for
postmasters to run Post Offices and on exploring the scope for additional revenue generators
beyond POL’s core business so that POL may continue its journey towards financial self-
sustainability for the benefit of stakeholders. The recent changes to the Banking Framework
are an excellent example of the company’s greater commercial focus and I hope that the
revised fee structure currently being agreed with the high street banks will provide a significant
boost to both POL’s profitability and ability to invest in the business so that it is better placed to
attract and incentivise postmasters. Finally, I know that you will want to study the recent
judgment from the High Court in your current litigation and to take all appropriate actions in
response.
As POL goes through this time of critical change, I would like to agree a more structured
channel of communication to ensure that we work together to take advantage of the upcoming
opportunities.
KELLY TOLHURST MP
Minister for Small Business, Consumers & Corporate Responsibility