WITN11370100
WITN11370100
Witness Name: Richard Taylor
Dated: 4 October 2024
POST OFFICE HORIZON IT INQUIRY
FIRST WITNESS STATEMENT OF RICHARD TAYLOR
I, Richard Taylor, will say as follows:
INTRODUCTION
1. I was employed as Group Director of Corporate Affairs, Communications and
Brand at Post Office Limited (“Post Office”) between 2020 and 2024. I have set
out my professional background at paragraphs 8 to 11 below.
2. I make this witness statement to assist the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry (the
“Inquiry”) with the matters set out in the Rule 9 Request dated 1 August 2024
and in response to the questions raised in that request.
3. I left Post Office in February 2024. I have addressed the questions put to me
by the Inquiry to the best of my ability, based on my memory of events at this
time and without recourse to my full set of work emails and calendar or all of
the documents I worked on whilst at Post Office. I have been assisted by a law
firm in the preparation of this statement.
4.
WITN11370100
WITN11370100
I was horrified by the unfolding Horizon scandal which I read about in thé pi
before I joined Post Office in January 2020, and by the miscarriages of justice
that devastated the lives of so many.
I accepted the role as Director of Corporate Affairs and Communications
because I wanted to work with the new Chief Executive Officer to help
turnaround the business that had caused such distress to so many people. In
my time at Post Office I always advocated for the provision of full redress to all
those affected. I hope that as the Inquiry concludes its important work and the
final report is published, all those affected by the scandal will be able to benefit
from Sir Wyn’s recommendations as well as the actions of today’s Post Office
and the Government to right the wrongs of the past.
I resigned from Post Office in February 2024 following the reporting of
comments I made in a personal capacity to a friend some years before. I
address these comments more fully later in this statement.
I was wrong to make these comments which I appreciate will for many
postmasters have been insulting. I am profoundly sorry for my past remarks
and for the hurt and offence that they caused.
PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
8.
I obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Geography and African studies at the University
of Birmingham in 1992. In 1993 I graduated from the University of Cambridge
with a Masters of Philosophy in Environment and Development.
In 1993 I joined the Confederation of British Industry as a Policy Advisor. In
1998 I became the Labour Party’s Policy Advisor for Industry, Culture and
Agriculture. In 2001 I was appointed Special Advisor to the then Secretary of
State for Defence.
WITN11370100
WITN11370100
10.In 2004 I became a partner at the strategic communications consultancy,
Portland, and was a consultant until 2008, when I joined Morrisons
supermarkets as Group Director of Corporate Affairs and Communications.
From 2015 to 2019 I was Group Director of Corporate Affairs and
Communications at ScottishPower.
11.In August 2019 I was approached by a recruitment agency about a role with
Post Office. Following a series of interviews, I was offered the position as the
Group Director of Corporate Affairs and Communications in December 2019. I
started this role on 29 January 2020.
EXPERIENCE AS POST OFFICE LIMITED CORPORATE AFFAIRS AND
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR
Group Director of Corporate Affairs, Communications and Brand
12. As Director of Corporate Affairs, Communications and Brand I reported to Nick
Read, who had become Chief Executive Officer in September 2019. I was part
of the Group Executive and was responsible for the communications function
within Post Office.
13.The primary role of my team was to advise on the corporate affairs strategy for
Post Office, preparing and delivering communications on its behalf. The team
was responsible for collating content in collaboration with other functions in the
business, testing and challenging the subject matter, and presenting and
explaining this as clearly as possible to internal and external audiences.
14.For example, in 2020 I worked closely with the mails team on how best to
communicate to postmasters and to wider media the significance of the second
Mails Distribution Agreement between Post Office and Royal Mail, emphasising
the commercial importance to both partners, as well as the opportunity to
introduce new carrier sales opportunities for postmasters such as DPD and
Evri. This included preparing statements with key messages, answers to
3
WITN11370100
WITN11370100
the benefits of the change.
15.The team prepared briefings, speeches, statements, press releases and other
forms of tactical communication for a wide range of audiences, including
postmasters, colleagues, journalists, and Parliamentarians. This included
communications setting out the measures being implemented by Post Office in
response to the Horizon IT scandal and the provision of redress to postmasters,
as well as communications in response to the Inquiry. Examples of this work
include statements of apology and wider explanations of how Post Office was
implementing the recommendations of Lord Justice Fraser.
16.Post Office is a unique business as it is primarily a franchise concession
operating in partnership with other businesses on the high street, with its sole
shareholder being the Government. A key focus of my role was to present and
explain a future vision for Post Office as a commercially sustainable business,
including to current and future postmasters.
17.1 joined Post Office during a particularly busy period. In addition to my induction,
and the strategic projects on Purpose (discussed further below) and
restructuring of the communications function described below, there were a
number of immediate external priorities including the Government's
announcement of the Horizon IT Inquiry, how to respond to the global Covid-19
pandemic as well as advising on commercial imperatives.
18.For example, during the first six weeks of my role I met the Secretary of State
for Work and Pensions regarding the closure of the Post Office Card Account
(POca) scheme, prepared a communications plan for the second Mails
Distribution Agreement and launched a new system for postmasters to order
stock via Branch Hub.
WITN11370100
WITN11370100
Structure of the Corporate Affairs and Communications directorate
19.In January 2020 there was a traditional pyramid structure within the Corporate
Affairs and Communications directorate in which I had two direct reports; one
who was responsible for internal communications and the other for external. I
led a significant restructure of the team that year, resulting in a reduction in
head count by approximately one third and the implementation of ‘spans of
control’, consistent with best practice. Thereafter I had eight direct reports,
including two directors. Their respective teams were responsible for policy,
insight, messaging, strategic planning, and tactical delivery. Six audience
experts were accountable for targeting communications for postmasters,
colleagues, journalists, parliamentarians, stakeholders and customers (through
the Post Office brand). Funding had been approved by the shareholder to
enable such re-structuring of some functions with the aim of reducing central
cost overheads which should be to the benefit of postmasters.
20.When I joined there was also an extensive programme underway across the
business focused on ‘Purpose, Growth and Strategy’. This programme had
been introduced by Nick Read, with McKinsey appointed to advise on the
Growth and Strategy elements. I was asked by Nick Read to take on
responsibility for the Purpose work. This was a demanding six-month project
involving extensive discussions and analysis with postmasters and colleagues.
In the summer of 2020, the Board formally approved a new statement of the
Purpose of Post Office, summarised as ‘We're here in person for the people
who rely on us’: emphasising the importance of the physical network, the
service offered by postmasters and the wide range of personal and business
customers.
21.There was also a significant amount of work underway addressing the issues
identified in the judgments of Lord Justice Fraser (addressed further below).
One of my priorities was to review the effectiveness of communications to
postmasters and implement improvements, as well as advance the
WITN11370100
WITN11370100
understanding of colleagues about the daily challenges postm
run a successful business and help ensure a postmaster centric culture. It was
clear to me both through the recruitment process and on joining the business
that the priority for Post Office was to ‘turnaround’ the business with the priority
of offering redress for the past, as well as working towards a commercially
sustainable future that put postmasters first.
Training and induction
22.During my recruitment I visited a number of Post Office branches and spoke
with postmasters, including about issues related to Horizon, to understand the
state of the business. I may have also been sent some induction material after
I was offered the role in December 2019.
23.My induction was consistent with that of other senior leadership roles that I have
held. This took the form primarily of one-to-one meetings with colleagues,
including with my Group Executive counterparts, other senior leaders as well
as every member of my team. Over the first six weeks I attended multiple
meetings in parallel with starting work on key projects. I also met a number of
external parties, including representatives from the National Federation of Sub
Postmasters (“NFSP”), Communications Workers Union (“CWU”), UK
Government Investments (“UKGI") and the Department of Business. A
timetable summarising my first few days of induction [POL00460564] refers to
some of these meetings and postmaster visits.
24.As part of my induction I visited the offices in Chesterfield with the Network
Operations Director. I listened to calls at the Branch Support Centre to hear
first-hand the type of issues that postmasters were raising and how they were
handled by the agent. This provided valuable insight into the day-to-day issues
that were being faced by postmasters and the improvements being
implemented to handle their calls.
WITN11370100
WITN11370100
25.1 found all of the induction meetings useful as I heard from key subject mai
experts about the challenges facing postmasters and Post Office as a whole
and the programmes being implemented to provide redress to postmasters
affected by the scandal and also improve branch profitability for the benefit of
postmasters.
26.In addition, during my induction I visited several branches across London with
the Retail Director and Area Manager, meeting a number of postmasters from
franchised branches. I had the opportunity to ask direct questions to
postmasters about the operations of their branches, and any concerns they may
have including their use of Horizon, commercial opportunities for their business
and the usefulness of the range of communications they received from Post
Office. Such first hand and personal accounts from postmasters was a
particularly valuable element of my induction as I gained insight into the
improvements that had already been implemented to help and what more
needed to be done.
27.As part of my induction, I also undertook mandatory online training, for example,
covering health and safety practices, anti-bribery and corruption and
cybersecurity.
28.While I was satisfied with the induction I received, it was somewhat curtailed by
the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns which began seven weeks after I
joined.
29.1 received no handover from my predecessor, Mark Davies, who had left prior
to my appointment.
Horizon
30.Prior to joining Post Office, I had no direct experience of the Horizon system. I
had a basic understanding of its functionality and was aware of its development
and introduction from my previous role working for the Labour Party in the late
WITN11370100
WITN11370100
1990s and for its intended use within Post Office and to support the Department
of Work and Pensions. However, I had no role or involvement in its
development, introduction or operation.
3
.During my time at Post Office my knowledge and understanding of the Horizon
system developed further, although I have no professional or technical training
in the design or operation of IT systems. I understand it to be both an Electronic
Point of Sale system processing hundreds of thousands of transactions per day
in branches, as well as the ‘back office’ accounting system. I regularly had
discussions with colleagues in the IT team and in retail to understand more
about Horizon and the further improvements needed. I also frequently met
postmasters to discuss the operation of Horizon, its functionality and the issues
they faced. This included hosting visits for Government Ministers in branches
so that they could meet postmasters and see first-hand how Horizon operated,
particularly in light of the issues highlighted by the Inquiry.
32.As mentioned above, as part of my induction I also attended meetings with key
individuals within Post Office and received briefings about Horizon, the
prosecution of postmasters and the Group Litigation Order. These meetings
were largely framed in the context of my role as communications director and
focused on how to improve further Post Office’s relationship with postmasters,
including the most effective communications framework.
33.1 sought the opportunity to complete the full Horizon training that postmasters
receive in the summer of 2020 as I was interested to learn and wanted to have
a better understanding of the system, and to be in a position potentially to assist
in branch during peak seasons. However, due to my workload at the time I was
unable to join the Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer in doing so.
WITN11370100
WITN11370100
Corporate affairs and communications directorate in the context of i
Fraser judgments and the work of the Inquiry
34.In the four years that I was at Post Office, the Horizon IT scandal, redress for
postmasters and how to ensure a postmaster centric culture were regular topics
at meetings and a key focus of discussions within the Group Executive.
35.The Chief Executive Officer established a Steering Committee to address the
management of the Inquiry, with members including the IT Director, General
Counsel, Chief Financial Officer and me as Communications Director. I also
participated in calls arranged by the Inquiry team for colleagues to brief them
specifically on the communications response to the Inquiry, notably how the
Post Office handles social media commentary relating to individual colleagues.
36.A separate Improvements Delivery Group led by the Chief Strategy and
Transformation Officer was also established to implement the
recommendations arising from the judgments of Lord Justice Fraser. That
committee was primarily operational with members from the retail, strategy and
legal teams.
37.The Improvements Delivery Group produced an extensive tracker document
that was regularly updated and reviewed by the Group Executive. ‘Red, Amber
and Green’ ratings were applied to measure progress and prioritise the most
urgent issues.
38. As a member of the Group Executive I was regularly involved in discussions
concerning the implementation of the recommendations. My primary focus was
on the culture at the Post Office, including effective two-way communications
with postmasters, and brand proposition. I wanted to ensure that postmasters,
as franchisees, could benefit from a Post Office concession helping them run a
commercially sustainable business with all the support they should expect from
the franchisor.
WITN11370100
WITN11370100
39.One of the recommendations from Lord Justice Fraser was to appoint a serving
postmaster to the board as a Non-Executive Director (NED). There was an
election in 2021 and two postmaster NEDs were appointed. The postmaster
NEDs provided an important voice for practical strategic and operational
postmaster insight and an additional opportunity for two-way communications
with the wider postmaster population.
40.Examples of some other improvement work undertaken by the Corporate Affairs
and Communications directorate during my time at the Post Office included:
a. A comprehensive review of postmaster communications, with a
particular focus on which tactics were most appreciated by postmasters.
b. An annual programme of events with postmasters focused on strategy
and enabling a wide range of questioning from postmasters held in
different cities around the UK and attended by senior management. I
attended these events and prepared speeches for subject matter
experts.
c. Aweekly email was refined to update postmasters on strategy and key
tactical developments. We also started to use a wider range of tactics
to communicate with postmasters including producing podcasts and
greater use of video and animated content.
d. Ahandbook for postmasters was prepared which contained detail about
the work being undertaken to implement the recommendations of Lord
Justice Fraser and explained postmasters’ rights and responsibilities. I
have annexed to this statement the 2023 version [POL00448077].
e. At the beginning of one year, the communications team arranged for
three postmasters who were sceptical about the progress being made to
transform the business to meet with senior leadership at Post Office to
10
WITN11370100
WITN11370100
discuss their experience and to raise issues they were facing. The same
postmasters were invited back the following year to discuss and reflect
on further improvements made or additional changes needed.
f. The insight team in the communications function advised the retail team
on postmaster surveys which included year on year tracking of
sentiment.
g. Anonline training course for all colleagues was prepared including a film
produced by the communications function with interactive questions
showing a ‘day in the life’ of a postmaster to help colleagues understand
better the reality of being a postmaster running their own business.
h. The ‘Adopt an Area’ programme was established with senior business
leaders visiting branches regularly in a specific area of the UK.
Suggestions and recommendations were collated by _ the
communications team to inform the work of the Improvement Delivery
Group and other colleagues in the retail function.
i. An internal audit leading to an updated communications framework
setting out clearly the frequency of different communications tactics for
both postmasters and colleagues.
j. The communications directorate also commissioned an external audit of
other franchisers and the effectiveness of their communications to
franchisees to enable the introduction of industry leading tactics for the
benefit of postmasters.
k. A full brand analysis to identify the name of any Horizon replacement
system was also conducted including focus groups with postmasters.
41.One of my particular priorities for the communications function was to explain
the future vision of Post Office, known as the Intent to 2025, including an annual
"1
WITN11370100
WITN11370100
speech at the start of each financial year by the Chief Ex
complemented by regular multi-channel communications campaigns for key
commercial opportunities, notably mails and banking.
42.By way of example, the speech delivered by the Chief Executive Officer in April
2021 [INQ00000425] was prepared by a member of my team and me and
published on the corporate website. Nick Read set out Post Office's intention
to adopt a ‘postmaster first’ approach, and identifies the cultural failings within
the business as well as its intent to embed a partnership approach with
postmasters. The annual speech served as an opportunity for Post Office to
brief postmasters and the wider public about the work that was being done to
address the issues arising from the Inquiry.
43.Another workstream concerned the replacement of Horizon and _ its
complementary communications strategy to postmasters and other external
audiences. Contractual complexities and the high potential cost of replacement
made this challenging and therefore limited the communications that were
possible. At the time I left Post Office this issue remained unresolved.
Postmasters
44.1 have been asked to summarise my experience of the Corporate Affairs and
Communication directorates’ relationship with and approach to postmasters. I
have described above some examples of improvement work for postmaster
communications.
45.Along with members of my team and colleagues from the retail directorate, I
regularly attended meetings with postmasters. These meetings had a strong
emphasis on continuous improvement of two-way communication with
postmasters consistent with what a healthy franchisor to franchisee partnership
should look like. I enjoyed meeting and working with postmasters to understand
WITN11370100
WITN11370100
their business better, and I found such conversations to be extr
we sought to embed a culture of partnership with postmasters.
46.The prevailing attitude within the communications team was to be postmaster
centric, and this was widely evident when I joined in January 2020. Throughout
my time at Post Office the team was dedicated to delivering effective
communications for the benefit of postmasters.
47.As referenced above, in the summer of 2022 the communications team
undertook an internal audit of postmaster communications to establish a
framework for the frequency and type of tactics they preferred. Postmasters
were consulted in the development of the framework, with a published version
available to all postmasters to help them understand what to expect and when.
48.In 2023, a consultancy, Strand Partners, was contracted to undertake an
external audit of a wide range of different franchisor/franchisee relationships.
The aim of this project was to inform further changes for Post Office based on
best practice in franchisor to franchisee communications.
49.As mentioned above, helping postmasters understand better the opportunities
to increase sales and branch profitability was particularly important, as well as
to introduce opportunities for profit share, for example from online travel money
sales.
50. There were, however, challenges to improving some communications channels
to postmasters. For example, the database of postmasters and staff working at
the counters was incomplete. One way we sought to overcome this was
identifying those postmasters who were well-connected to other postmasters in
their region and arranging regular calls with them to try and reach a wider
audience of postmasters. We also worked with the postmaster non-executive
directors to create communications tactics for them, e.g. broadcast video
messages, and to improve further opportunities for two-way communications.
WITN11370100
WITN11370100
Culture of the Corporate Affairs and Communications directorate within
51.1 have been asked to describe the culture of the Post Office within the
communications directorate and whether this changed following the findings of
Lord Justice Fraser and the work of the Inquiry. I was appointed to my role
shortly after Lord Justice Fraser’s judgment was handed down, and prior to the
Inquiry being announced.
52. Throughout my time at Post Office, I found that colleagues were hardworking
and dedicated to the transformation of the business. When I joined in January
2020 the prevailing attitude was to be postmaster centric and this provided a
clear impetus to deliver effective communications for the benefit of postmasters
throughout my time at Post Office. From discussion groups and meetings with
postmasters, the team sought to understand and overcome any barriers
postmasters may face when receiving communications. For example,
addressing the frequency of messages in recognition of their busyness serving
customers and introducing a wider range of accessible communications tactics.
53.1 left the Post Office at a time where there was a consistent focus on ensuring
all the recommendations identified in the court judgments had been
implemented in full as far as possible. The communications team was focused
on learning from the audit of other franchise businesses and in particular to
ensure that the culture was rooted in being helpful to postmasters. The
business to customer brand proposition that we introduced based on the
Purpose was ‘We can help with that’. I was determined that this same approach
of helpfulness should also be consistently applied to our ‘business to business’
culture and that Post Office should be an exemplar of a franchise that seeks to
help its franchisees manage a successful business.
54. There was always a recognition within the communications function and across
other colleagues that Post Office could not move on until matters of the past
had been comprehensively addressed. Likewise, there was consistent
14
WITN11370100
WITN11370100
and final redress.
55.The importance of demonstrating that Post Office was an attractive franchise
proposition for current and future postmasters was a key part of the
communications team’s culture and strategy. This continued throughout my
time there.
56.One challenge to transforming the culture within the Post Office was stability
within the senior management team and notably that, during the four years that
I was at the Post Office there were four different Chief People Officers that I
worked with, each with their own approach to addressing cultural change.
Relationships with key stakeholders
57.Post Office’s relationship with the National Federation of Sub Postmasters
(‘NFSP”), was predominately led by the Retail function. Members of the
communications directorate would join meetings between the NFSP and the
retail team to gain a better understanding of challenges faced by postmasters
and opportunities to address them. Post Office would provide speakers for the
NFSP annual conference, and the communications directorate worked with
subject matter experts on the speeches to be delivered.
58.Post Office’s relationship with the Communications and Workers Union
(“CWU”) was primarily led by the People function, as it largely related to pay
negotiations and wider employee relations. Members of my team would attend
the tri-partite meetings between the CWU, NFSP and Department of Business.
59.There was a regular flow of communications between the shareholder, UK
Government Investments (“UKGI"), and Post Office. The team was in very
regular, often daily communication with the Department of Business and Trade
and UKGI regarding parliamentary questions and to assist with the flow of
information on wider parliamentary business.
15
WITN11370100
WITN11370100
60.The communications directorate did not have any regular direct dealings with
Fujitsu. I understand that prior to me joining Post Office a member of the team
would have been in contact with Fujitsu’s press office, for example concerning
the Group Litigation Order, but there were no regular communications
discussions with Fujitsu during my time.
DEPARTURE FROM POST OFFICE LIMITED
Resignation from the Post Office
61.1 resigned from the Post Office on Monday 26 February 2024. As is set out in
the press statement issued by Post Office on Tuesday 27 February
[RLIT0000277], and as I explain in greater detail below, following the broadcast
by Talk TV on Thursday 11 January 2024 of covert recordings of two private
conversations I had with a friend. I want to apologise again for the hurt and
upset that my comments caused and reiterate the apology that I made at the
time and which I believe was reported by Talk TV.
62.1 have been asked by the Inquiry to set out in detail the reasons for my departure
from Post Office Limited, including the relevant background, chronology and
actions of any individuals involved.
63.In January 2020, shortly before starting work at Post Office, I visited my mother
in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, which is the town in which I grew up. On Sunday
5 January I attended a church service in Walton at which I bumped into a friend
of some 40 years standing. We had known each other since childhood and kept
in touch throughout the 1990s and 2000s, but I had not seen him for several
years as I had moved from south west London to Yorkshire in 2007.
64.Following our chance meeting, my friend initiated a WhatsApp conservation
suggesting that we meet up one evening when I was next in Walton. We then
exchanged several messages in order to try and find a mutually convenient
date to meet. The full WhatsApp conversation is included in [POL00460565],
16
WITN11370100
WITN11370100
which is a document sent by me - with the name of my friend re
People team at Post Office as part of their investigation during my suspension.
65.My friend and I agreed to meet on the evening of Monday 9 March 2020 at a
pub in Walton. From recollection, the pub was very quiet: it was one week
before the Prime Minister announced that everyone should stop non-essential
contact and travel because of Covid-19. My friend was already seated at a
corner table away from the other handful of customers. There was loud piped
music playing throughout the pub.
66.As over four years have passed since that one-to-one meeting, I cannot recall
the details of our conversation. I would expect that we spent our time catching-
up about family and friends but clearly, as is evident from the covert recording,
our conversation at some point turned to Post Office.
67.Following our meeting in March 2020, my friend and I exchanged WhatsApp
messages later in March 2020 and again in May 2020.
68.1 did not hear from my friend again until April 2021, when he initiated further
messages suggesting that we meet again. We met on Monday 22 November
2021 in the same pub in Walton-on Thames. As in March 2020, the pub was
quiet on a Monday evening and my friend was already there when I arrived. I
expect that we caught up on what had happened in our lives since we had last
spoken, for example the death of my mother.
TALK TV VIDEO AND POST OFFICE LIMITED INVESTIGATION
69.On Thursday 11 January 2024, at around 4pm, I received an email from Talk
TV out-of-the blue telling me that they had a recording of me making comments
regarding the Horizon scandal which was going to air that evening at 7pm, and
inviting me to respond.
WITN11370100
WITN11370100
70. That afternoon, I did not make an immediate connection between the email from
Talk TV and the conversations I had had with my friend in March 2020 and
November 2021.
71.After receiving the email, I spoke with a number of people. This included the
Chief Executive Officer, Nick Read, lawyers, and a director in my team whom I
asked to draft a statement including my apology that could be provided to Talk
TV.
72.My colleague provided a statement, in which I apologised for my comments, to
Talk TV early in the evening of 11 January and the statement was, to the best
of my recollection, included in the programme broadcast from 7:00pm.
73.By the morning of Friday 12 January, having reviewed my calendar overnight
and WhatsApp, I was able to satisfy myself that the source of the covert
recordings could only be the one-to-one meetings with my friend and I sent him
a message expressing my deep sadness and hope for reconciliation in the
future. Later that morning, I attended previously scheduled meetings at Post
Office’s headquarters. In the early afternoon, I was asked to attend a meeting
with the Chief People Officer during which I was informed that I was suspended
with immediate effect and an investigation was to be conducted.
74. That day I spoke to Nick Read, apologising to him for the comments that I had
made to my friend and for becoming a story, which could be a distraction from
the important work of transforming the business. I reprised to Nick Read the
circumstances of the covert recordings and that it could only have been initiated
by my friend of forty years who appears to know Nick Wallis.
75.During the week beginning Monday 15 January 2024 I had a virtual meeting
with a director in Post Office’s people team to begin the investigation into the
circumstances leading to my suspension. During that meeting I summarised
that it was a friend that had initiated the one-to-one meetings that he had
18
WITN11370100
WITN11370100
covertly recorded and apparently given to Nick Wallis. Aft
prepared the PowerPoint presentation [POL00460565] including the full
WhatsApp conversation with my friend and sent it to the people director (I
redacted my friend's name in the PowerPoint presentation).
76.Shortly thereafter the people director initiated a further meeting with me. I was
informed that I could either resign from Post Office or take part in an
employment review process. I spent time with my wife considering what was
best and concluded that I should resign. I knew that the Post Office was a
business facing intense public scrutiny, for example with Nick Read appearing
before the Business Select Committee on Tuesday 16 January and again on
Tuesday 27 February. I did not wish the allegations aired in the Talk TV story
to distract from the vitally important work to transform Post Office’s culture and
to make it a truly postmaster centric organisation. I formally notified Nick Read
of my resignation by email on Monday 26 February.
77.1 asked Post Office to make an external announcement. As mentioned above,
a press statement was issued by Post Office the following day, Tuesday 27
February [RLIT0000277].
78.1 have been asked by the Inquiry to comment on the investigation conducted
by Post Office and to provide a copy of the investigation report. I have described
above my interactions with Post Office’s People team following my suspension.
I am not sure what, if any, additional investigative steps the People team
undertook and I was never provided with an investigation report, if indeed one
was ever produced.
79.1 remain profoundly sorry for the comments that I made to my friend in March
2020 and November 2021. I understand that the comments made will have
caused further hurt and upset to postmasters and their families who had already
endured so much. That is the very last thing I would ever want to do.
WITN11370100
WITN11370100
' WITN11370100 I
80.1 have only seen the isolated quotes included in the broadcast package and
have no recollection of how it was that in the course of a social conversation
with an old friend in the pub I offered these views. The excerpts of the secret
recording broadcast by Talk TV do not provide any context to the conversation
or generally what it was that my friend was saying. Nevertheless, I recognise
that I should have said to my friend that what happened to postmasters affected
by the scandal was a matter for the Inquiry to investigate and conclude. It may
be that as my friend was secretly recording, he directed the conversation to
these topics in the hope that I would say something potentially considered
newsworthy. In any event, I should not have commented specifically on matters
that were being fully investigated by the Inquiry.
81.The comments reported in the Talk TV package did not represent the views of
Post Office and the colleagues with whom I worked on a daily basis. I was not
sharing with my friend any confidential information or particular insights that I
had gained from my time at Post Office. From what I can tell from the recording,
I was regrettably offering off-hand comments based on my wider experience in
the retail sector and my reading of public documents, such as the judgements
by Lord Justice Fraser.
82.1 am horrified that the quotations broadcast by Talk TV in January called into
question the commitment of Post Office and its senior leadership to righting the
profound wrongs identified by Lord Justice Fraser.
83.1 have been asked by the Inquiry to reflect upon the following particular quotes
from the covert recording included in the Talk TV package. As I mention above,
the excepts do not provide any context to the conversation, however, I have set
out my reflections below:-
I understand that the quotations selected for broadcast by Talk TV give the
impression that I thought postmasters clearly stole money and that this is
insulting to postmasters past and present, including use of strong language like
“downright”. The wrongful conviction, and in some cases imprisonment, of
20
WITN11370100
WITN11370100
_WITN11370100 ;
innocent postmasters as a result of the Horizon scandal is an appalling tragedy
that has ruined too many lives. As I have said above, my principal motivation in
joining the Post Office was to play some small part in transforming the business
that had caused these miscarriages of justice. I am deeply sorry that my
comments in March 2020 give a different impression that is offensive to
postmasters past and present.
le Reflection that some Postmasters stole money:
I do not know why I said this to my friend.
By Monday 9 March 2020 I had been at Post Office for less than six
weeks. I had previously worked for retail businesses and was aware of
the wider issue of what the sector describes as ‘shrink,’ including
shoplifting and employee theft. I may have been trying to express to my
friend, in a very clumsy fashion, that it was unlikely that Post Office, as
a large retail business, was immune from these challenges.
ji. Reflection that the Horizon Issues Judgment did not show a “causal link”
between issues with the Horizon system and short falls in branches:
I consider this a speculative comment based on my own reading of the
Lord Justice Fraser judgement when it was published. I was in no doubt
since joining the Post Office that Lord Justice Fraser had found that it
could be possible for the faults with the Horizon system to have caused
apparent shortfalls within branch accounts. This finding was the
foundation of all that the senior leadership team was doing at Post Office
to address the grave injustices of the past.
iii. Reflection that overturned convictions say nothing about guilt or
innocence:
21
WITN11370100
WITN11370100
I am not a lawyer and I have no direct experience of the
system, however, it was my personal understanding that the appeals
process was not a re-trial but an assessment of the safety of the original
conviction. These were off-hand comments made to a friend.
GENERAL
84.1 have been asked by the Inquiry to set out any other comments or reflections
about my experience as Corporate Affairs and Communications Director at Post
Office.
85.As I have stated in my evidence throughout the four years I was at Post Office
I was clear that the horrendous experience many postmasters endured during
the Horizon IT scandal could not and should not be ever repeated. All of the
senior leaders, the communications function and as far as I could tell all the
colleagues I met and worked with were united in their dedication to secure
transformation of Post Office. This included the urgent task of offering full
redress to those affected by the scandal at the same time as ensuring the
business model truly reflected a franchise partnership with opportunity for
postmasters to share more in the commercial success of Post Office. I enjoyed
meeting and working with numerous postmasters to understand their business
better and hope that the work underway to ensure that the prevailing culture is
unrelentingly focused on helping postmasters succeed continues to flourish.
86.1 was wrong to make those comments to my friend on what could have
happened before I joined the Post Office in 2020 and should have simply said
that these are all rightly matters for the Inquiry to consider. I apologised publicly
as soon as those comments were broadcast and I am deeply sorry for my past
remarks and for the hurt and offence that they caused.
87.1 hope that as the Inquiry concludes and the final report is published that all
those affected by the scandal will be able to benefit from all the lessons learnt
and Sir Wyn’s recommendations. I also sincerely hope that Post Office, working
22
WITN11370100
WITN11370100
I WITN11370100 I
with the new Government, will be able to complete the transformation of this
essential national asset so that it can be a commercially sustainable partnership
business for the benefit of postmasters and the customers that rely on them for
many decades to come.
Statement of Truth
I believe the content of this statement to be true.
Ur Octoaze 2o24
Dated:
23
WITN11370100
WITN11370100
Index to First Witness Statement of Richard Taylor
No. URN DOCUMENT CONTROL
DESCRIPTION NUMBER
1. POL00460564 Induction timetable POL-BSFF-WITN-
053-0000006
2. POL00448077 Postmaster support guide POL-BSFF-104-
v4.0 July 2023 0000036
3. INQ00000425 Post Office: Future, Past VIS00000856
and Present
CEO speech 8 April 2021
4. POL00460565 Powerpoint presentation POL-BSFF-WITN-
054-0000027
5. RLIT0000277 POL Press statement RLIT0000277
27 February 2024
24