Paula Anne Vennells, CBE, FRSA (born 1959) is a British businesswoman and Anglican priest. She was Chief Executive officer of the Post Office Limited from 2012 to 2019 before assuming the chair of Imperial College Healthcare Trust, one of the largest NHS hospital groups.

Vennells was born on 1959, and grew up in Denton, Lancashire.^[1] Having won a funded place, she was educated at the Manchester High School for Girls, an all-girls independent school in Manchester.^[1] She then studied Russian and French at the University of Bradford, graduating in 1981 with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree.^[2][3]

Vennells began her career as a graduate trainee at Unilever in 1981.^[1][3] She went on to work for L'Oreal, Dixons Retail, Argos, and Whitbread.^[3]

In 2007, she joined the Post Office as Group Network Director.^[4] On 1 April 2012, she became its Chief Executive Officer.^[5] During her time as CEO, the Post Office went from losing £120 million a year to making a profit.^[6]

In December 2019, the Post Office paid out £58 million to sub-postmasters who were awarded compensation for false prosecutions^[7] that had been based on evidence from the botched Horizon IT system. The judge presiding on the case, Mr Justice Fraser, noted that the approach of the Post Office to the case:

...amounted, in reality, to bare assertions and denials that ignore what has actually occurred, at least so far as the witnesses called before me in the Horizon Issues trial are concerned. It amounts to the 21st century equivalent of maintaining that the earth is flat.

Vennells subsequently apologised to workers affected by the scandal, saying:^[8]

I am truly sorry we were unable to find both a solution and a resolution outside of litigation and for the distress this caused

In February 2019, it was announced that she would step down from her Post Office role and in April that year took over as chair of Imperial College Healthcare Trust,^[9] which runs St Mary's, Hammersmith, Queen Charlotte's, Charing Cross and the Western Eye Hospital in north-west London. She also became a non-executive board member of the Cabinet Office.^[8]

In early March 2020, she resigned from her Cabinet Office position.^[10]

On 19 March 2020, Paula Vennells was harshly criticized in the Chamber of the House of Commons, particularly by Kevan Jones, MP for North Durham, who said:^[11]

Obviously, as a board member she knew what was going on, including the strategy in the court case and the bugs in the system. What happened? She got a CBE in the new year’s honours list for services to the Post Office. That is just rubbing salt into the wounds of these innocent people. There is a case for her having that honour removed, and I would like to know how she got it in the first place when the court case is ongoing. Added to that, she is now chair of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. Again, I would like to know why and what due diligence was done on her as an individual...

From 2002 to 2005, Vennells trained for Holy Orders on the St Albans and Oxford Ministry Course.^[2] She was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 2005 and as a priest in 2006.^[2] Since ordination, she has served as a non-stipendiary minister at Church of St Owen, Bromham in the Diocese of St Albans.^[2][12]

In the 2019 New Year Honours, she was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) "for services to the Post Office and to charity". ^[13]