The distinguished business career of ordained priest Paula Vennells - who completed a diploma in theology at Oxford University - has crumbled following the Post Office Horizon scandal.

ITV drama, Mr Bates vs The Post Office, ensured a spotlight was firmly placed on the 65-year-old, who was in charge of the Post Office during one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British legal history.

In the face of mounting pressure over the Horizon scandal, and a petition which attracted more than 1.2 million signatures, Ms Vennells handed back her CBE earlier this year.

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She has since quit boardroom roles at retailers Morrisons and Dunelm as subpostmasters began having their convictions overturned.

She also stepped back from her regular church duties.

More than 700 subpostmasters were prosecuted by the Post Office and handed criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015 as Fujitsu’s faulty Horizon IT system made it appear as though money was missing at their branches.

Ms Vennells had a long-standing career at the Post Office, having started as group network director in 2007, then becoming managing director in 2010, before being promoted to the top job five years later.

She joined the Post Office after holding a number of management positions at L’Oreal, Whitbread, Dixons and Argos, having started her career as a graduate trainee at consumer goods giant Unilever in 1981.

Oxford Mail: She had studied Russian, French and economics at the University of Bradford in addition to her Oxford University studies, and she was also ordained as an Anglican priest in 2006. 

She served at three churches in Bedfordshire.

She led the Post Office for nearly seven years, taking the helm in 2012 – the same year it split from Royal Mail as part of the latter’s privatisation.

Her tenure as chief executive was marred from the start, coming into the role as the Post Office suffered financial woes, leading to sweeping cost-cutting measures which saw thousands of branches close across the UK.

Her promotion also came as the company began to investigate allegations made by a number of subpostmasters about the IT system at the centre of the scandal.

There was further controversy with expert witnesses allegedly giving false evidence during prosecutions of subpostmasters, and victims of the scandal being told they were the “only one” experiencing problems.

She faced heavy criticism over her handling of the affair, finally stepping down from her role as chief executive in February 2019.

Questions have been raised over the timing of her departure – with legal cases brought by subpostmasters such as lead campaigner Alan Bates being tried around the same time.