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The former chair of the Post Office railed against the scandal-hit organisation’s chief executive Nick Read and accused him of bullying the business’s former human resources director, in a letter to MPs published on Tuesday.
Henry Staunton, who was sacked as chair in January by business secretary Kemi Badenoch, told MPs that he believed Read’s behaviour towards the company’s head of HR had “constituted bullying”.
Badenoch cited bullying allegations against Staunton as part of the reason for his dismissal. But the former Post Office chair claimed that these were based on a complaint document focused on Read and not him when he attended a hearing of the House of Commons business and trade committee last week.
In the letter, Staunton dismissed the grounds for an investigation into his own conduct while he was chair as “unbelievably weak”.
Staunton repeated his claims that allegations against him were drawn from a 12-page “Speak Up” document produced by the Post Office’s former HR director that set out a series of allegations regarding conduct within the organisation.
He said the HR director had told him that her purpose in writing the document was to express what she felt was Read’s attitude towards her as the only woman in the Post Office’s senior management.
“She felt that she was being treated by Read and his henchmen as a ‘pain the arse’ for focusing on tackling the toxic culture rather than prioritising Read’s salary,” Staunton wrote.
The Sunday Times reported allegations last weekend, citing company insiders, that Read had pushed for his annual pay to be increased to more than £1mn and that he had threatened to resign if he did not get a pay rise.
Staunton said the allegations against him were based on a conversation where he had been “quoting critically” comments by a former colleague at another company who had told him “she did not like appointing ‘girls’ because they were, in her experience, ‘pains in the arses’”.
The City veteran’s latest intervention will add further pressure to Read. Jane Davies, who was the Post Office HR director at the time, confirmed on Tuesday evening that she was the author of the “Speak Up” document and came out in support of Staunton.
“The Speak Up complaint did not mention Henry Staunton; [Davies] did not ever witness Henry being disrespectful to anyone,” a spokesperson for Davies said.
Staunton, the former chair of stationers WHSmith, wrote that Davies’ complaint was “entirely directed at Nick Read, his own conduct and lack of his management of the many governance and compliance issues”.
He said the “Speak Up” document also covered “in detail” Read’s “badgering over his salary and repeated threats to resign”. Staunton said the investigation into him was a “sham” and a “stitch-up”.
The business and trade committee has requested the “Speak Up” document and is expected to receive a copy on Wednesday.
The Post Office said: “There are inaccuracies and falsehoods in Mr Staunton’s claims. The investigation remains ongoing, and nobody should be drawing any conclusions at this stage.”
Read was “fully co-operating” with an investigation by a barrister, which was scheduled to conclude in early April, it added.
In a letter to the committee, also published on Tuesday, Read said he had “never tried to resign”.
“Like many people in highly complex roles like this one, I have suffered frustrations — many CEOs have conversations privately with appropriate people in their organisation and I am no different,” Read added.
The Department for Business and Trade said: “Post Office governance is a priority for the government; that is why we acted swiftly to remove a chair about whom there were serious concerns and allegations and why we are working at pace to appoint an interim chair.”
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