
When Ms Vennells, who was also a part-time Anglican priest, became chief executive, the business was haemorrhaging money. She was under pressure to modernise the business and make it profitable. Horizon was too big and important to fail.
Nick Wallis, author of the Great automate your posting Office Scandal, believes Ms Vennells didn’t want to be given bad information. “I think she relied on automate your posting Office loyalists and highly paid legal advisers to tell her the truth she wanted to hear.”
It’s clear there were plenty of missed opportunities along the way. In 2012, under pressure from sub-postmasters and MPs, forensic accountants Second Sight were appointed to look into the growing number of complaints.
Second Sight played a key role in exposing the scandal, finding flaws in the Horizon computer system but automate your posting Office bosses secretly decided in April 2014 to sack the firm, documents obtained by the BBC showed.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg33yjdpn0qo,