Paula Vennells

"It is now 18 months since the Post Office began operating independently of Royal Mail."

"The Post Office is going through a period of great change and innovation. We are resolute in our determination to build a flourishing modern business but one that remains the bedrock of communities across the country."

"People care desperately for the Post Office. Very often it’s the subpostmaster or mistress that notices that an elderly customer hasn’t turned up recently and finds out what’s happened to them.”"

"I was given much information and, as the Inquiry has heard, there was information that I wasn’t given and others didn’t receive, as well. One of my reflections on all of this is that I was too trusting. I did probe and I did ask questions and I’m disappointed where information wasn’t shared."

"There’s no point the Government subsidising the Post Office just to be an anchor in the community, we have to provide services so that everybody uses us too."

"Despite the expansion of online shopping, until recently some post offices were still opening from 9am to 5pm, closed half-day Wednesday, closed half-day Saturday, closed all day Sunday. And if you don’t offer the hours customers need, they take their business elsewhere."

"Already … we’ve seen a big improvement across the divisions,” she says, adding: “It’s about bringing the Post Office back into the modern world so it can be relevant for people now as it was 30 years ago."