UKG100042465
UKGI00042465
Message
From: Permanent Secretary i
Sent: 15/03/2019 14:46:55
To: Aldred, Tom - UKGI;
cc: Permanent Secretary f
Subject: Perm Sec/ Tim Parker readout
Flag: Follow up
Hi
Apologies for the delay, I have done a readout from the POL meeting last week. Please can you add your comments? I
know most of the conversation is covered in the memo Alex sent to SoS.
Attendees:
Tom Aldred
Tim Parker
Gavin Lambert
Key points:
- POLis doing well financially and TP is optimistic about their future. 5 years ago they were losing over £100m a
year.
- They are essentially now a manager of a very successful franchising model. POL is very attractive to someone
running a local retail store. They can bring footfall to the high-street.
- POLrelies heavily on the relationship with Royal Mail, which is only a 10 year relationship now. Royal Mail
accounts for 50% of the income, but without it there is no business at all. POL are the only sort of operator who
are separated in this way.
- Parcels are becoming more important than letters now. The share of the parcels market Royal Mail have might
go down. POL could explore a future option of not having exclusivity with Royal Mail. At the moment, POL have
a good relationship with Royal Mail.
- POLare dependent on Bank of Ireland. However, they are currently moving to a different model which will give
them greater freedom in financial services. In return for this, Bol want a more variable cost model. POL are
currently the number 2 player in foreign exchange and they will now be able to better benefit from these
profits.
- Banking Framework is changing and POL are optimistic about their new prices. They know that bank closures are
of public concern so being able to offer these services is important.
- Franchising — there are around 200 crown Post Offices remaining, the rest have been franchised. There are other
opportunities to explore here ie distributing medicines.
- There have been recent changes to the Executive Team. New hires from Aviva, Barclays and Boots have added a
lot of value.
- Regarding the litigation, AC went over the lessons learned from the Magnox inquiry. These included: board
should have substantive briefing from the QC and not solely rely on the assessments of the CEO and that the
advice on appeal needs to be well thought through.
- TP noted that it can be difficult to get appointments through BEIS in a timely way. AC noted this and agreed to
discuss with Ministers.
- TP discussed the need to appoint an interim CEO and then interim CFO (if the CFO becomes the interim CEO). AC
noted the advice and agreed to raise this with Ministers.
- TP proposed that we could consider making changes to the Framework Agreement to look at the amount of
delegated authority. TP noted that it needs to be proportionate, and doesn’t want delays or uncertainty.
- TP noted that whilst he values the contribution of UKGI, he does not want the monitoring to become
demotivating to the POL team. AC acknowledged this but noted that POL have a lot of HMG money and
therefore this is necessary.
Best wishes,
Sophie
aw Sophie Lewis
Private Secretary to the Permanent Secretary
Department for GR
ppaiperetgint 4 . 1 Victoria Street, London, SW1H OET
ust egy www.gov.uk/beis I https://twitter.com/beisgovuk
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