Alan Cook oversaw the prosecution of innocent postal workers, built smart highways and tried to sell LV to US private equity predators… So how did he get away with it?
The man who tried to sell LV to private equity vultures has been thrust back into the spotlight by the post office scandal.
Alan Cook was director of the Post Office between 2006 and 2010, when the private prosecution of hundreds of innocent postal workers over a fault in the Horizon IT system began.
He oversaw 161 prosecutions for alleged theft, in which 141 people were convicted and 57 imprisoned.
He then became chairman of Highways England, where he played a role in changing the design of controversial smart motorways, including reducing the number of life-saving refuges.
Cook then took over as chairman of LV and attempted to sell the 179-year-old mutual insurer to US buyer Bain Capital for £530 million, before his deal was rejected by the group’s 1.2 million members after a successful Ny Breaking campaign.
Members of the mutuality said they were ‘astonished and dismayed’ that Cook was allowed to run a financial institution after his involvement with the Post Office.
Alan Cook (pictured) was director of the Post Office between 2006 and 2010, when the private prosecution of hundreds of innocent postal workers over a fault in the Horizon IT system began
He oversaw 161 prosecutions for alleged theft, in which 141 people were convicted and 57 imprisoned
Despite the controversies, he has escaped public attention in relation to the Post Office scandal, with much of the anger directed at former CEO Paula Vennells. MPs and victims now want Cook to be held to account for his role in the ‘biggest miscarriage of justice’ in British history.
The postal workers’ scandal resulted in the conviction of more than 700 innocent people – 263 of whom were imprisoned – and left hundreds of others bankrupt and financially ruined.
Last night Chris Trousdale, former deputy postmaster and victims’ activist, said: ‘We want everyone, from top to bottom, to be held accountable. People keep asking if this kind of thing could happen again.
‘If people like Cook continue to get higher positions in large companies, then of course that could be possible. The public should be very concerned that these types of people are still running major institutions.”
Gareth Thomas, shadow secretary of state for international trade, said: “It is absolutely time he was held to account.” Cook, who lives in a £1million house near Milton Keynes, was appointed managing director of the Post Office by then chief executive Adam Crozier, who was impressed by Cook’s turnaround at National Savings and Investments, where he has been since 2002 was CEO.
Crozier wanted him to “refresh” the post office. By the time Cook retired, 161 postmasters had been prosecuted, with 141 convicted and 57 imprisoned. He defended the Horizon computer system in a letter to MP Brooks Newmark in 2009 when questions were raised about its reliability.
Upon his departure in 2010, Crozier praised him for his “fantastic contribution” to the post office.
Cook is currently a board member of Milton Keynes College.
In 2021, a spokesperson for LV said Cook had “deep sympathy for the postmasters who were wrongfully prosecuted.”