The officials wrote in February 2014 that “advice from the recent annual review suggested that the [Post Office] team give careful consideration to the continued suitability of Paula Vennells as chief executive”.
“There is a general consensus that Paula is no longer the right person to lead [the Post Office], but justification is anecdotal,” they wrote.
The documents revealed that officials had a number of concerns about Ms Vennells, including that she had not managed to grow Post Office revenue in line with a 2010 plan.
Ms Perkins said it was not her view that Ms Vennells was averse to being challenged, but added that there had been “some tension” between Ms Vennells and Susan Barton, who was the Post Office’s strategy director at the time.
Lead counsel for the inquiry, Jason Beer KC, asked whether Ms Vennells “preferred to have yes-men and yes-women around her, surrounding herself with a coterie of trusted lieutenants: [such as executives] Mark Davies, Angela van den Bogerd, [and] Lesley Sewell?”
Ms Perkins replied: “I don’t think that would be a fair characterisation.”
Credit: Source link
