NFSP slams Post Office retailer non-exec director roles for ‘lack of transparency’

The National Federation of SubPostmasters (NFSP) has questioned what “benefit” the roles of the Post Office’s (PO) postmaster non-executive director (NED) brings to the network, and pitched a replacement ‘oversight committee’.

In a statement released on 19 January, the NFSP expressed its “reservations” about the PO’s board postmaster NEDS which were created by the PO in 2021 as “evidence of it as a business listening to postmasters”.

The statement claims that, in accordance with the Companies Act, the two postmaster NEDs cannot vote on many decisions taken by the PO board as this is considered a “conflict of interest” due to their role as PO retailers, and claimed the NEDS have been unable to communicate with other PO branches due to being bound by confidentiality.

Given these restrictions, the role is not “fully representative of the whole network”, the statement said, and this restriction also creates a “lack of transparency around the roles”. The NFSP also claimed there are ‘groups who seek to undermine the selection process by putting forward their preferred candidate.”

The trade body added that it is important postmasters have their voices heard, with a solution being an oversight committee.  

The NFSP claimed: “It would be cleaner and more beneficial to the PO Network, the PO, and government, [and] will enable full scrutiny of both government and PO decisions that may have an impact on contract holders within PO. Further, it will bring in the much-needed voices of consumer champions given the PO’s social purpose at the heart of communities around the country. This Oversight Committee is not designed to remove the need for a board of PO, nor senior management to carry out day-to-day operations but to complement the existing structure as it does in other industry sectors.”

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The statement continued that this would call into question the following potential breaches in the Companies Act:

172 Duty to promote the interests of the company

173 Duty to exercise independent judgement

175 Duty to avoid conflicts of interest

177 Duty to declare interests in proposed transactions or arrangements

In addition during the selection process for the role, NFSP stated that PO will look for a corporate background, “which may not be indicative of the majority of postmasters, who are successful small businesspeople”.

Elliot Jacobs, who owns several PO branches in North London, is one of the PO’s retailer NEDs.

Commenting earlier this year, he wrote: “I am proud to be a Postmaster, proud to be part of the future and proud to serve on behalf of my fellow Postmasters as a Board Director to ensure our integrity and commitment and viewpoint is always understood and our voice remains at heart of Post Office decision making every day.”

Upon being appointed to the other PO retailer NED position in 2021, Saf Ismael, who has branches in Greater Manchester and Lancashire, said: “he role of a non-executive director is an enormous responsibility and I will repay this belief and trust given to me by ensuring the Post Office board and senior management understand the reality of how postmasters feel, ensuring they are at forefront of decisions.”

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