On 20 June I was waiting outside Committee Room 6 at the Houses of Parliament, waiting to hear Post Office CEO Nick Read and his fellow execs grilled by Darren Jones MP and various members of the Business Select Committee.

I was in the process of putting together Episode 12 of The Great Post Office Trial. My producer Robert and I had already bid for an interview with Mr Read, but we were cannoning towards our deadline and time was running out. The day before we had been told that despite initially positive soundings, the CEO was unlikely to be able to accommodate us in his schedule.

Mr Read arrived in good time for the meeting, tracked by his “Group Corporate Affairs, Communications & Brand Director”, Richard Taylor. I introduced myself and asked Read if he would do an interview after the session – pointing out we had a bid in and we were up against a deadline. He agreed.

After the committee hearing (which you can watch here), we found a quiet corner and started recording.

Robert managed to get four minutes of the resultant interview into Episode 12, but I was delighted when Robert told me the BBC had agreed to put the interview up in its entirety as a “bonus” episode for the series.

This is the first time in my thirteen years of covering the story that a Post Office Chief Executive has agreed to be interviewed by any journalist about the scandal. I am grateful to him for his time.

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