Kevin Gilliland, Post Office’s Retail Chief Executive, awarded OBE in New Year’s Honours List

Kevin Gilliland, the Post Office’s Retail Chief Executive, is to receive royal recognition for his commitment to the business.

It was announced in the New Year’s Honours List that Kevin, who started his Post Office career as a counter clerk almost 38 years ago, is to receive the OBE for his services to the Post Office and local communities.

Kevin has played an integral role in the transformation of the Post Office over recent years, having served in a wide variety of roles through his career.

He has been instrumental in the development and delivery of the network transformation programme which has seen almost 7,000 branches transformed since 2012.

Kevin said: “It is a privilege to serve the Post Office. It is a wonderful business and I am thrilled and deeply honoured to receive this honour. It reflects for me the commitment and dedication of the many thousands of people who work tirelessly every day to improve post office services for customers – this honour is for them as much as it is for me.”

Chief Executive of the Post Office Group, Paula Vennells, said - “I am delighted to send my warmest congratulations to Kevin on this much deserved honour – it is due recognition for the many years of skill and commitment he has brought to the Post Office.

“Over recent years, Kevin has led the modernisation of thousands of post offices across the UK, so that our branches are in tune with the needs of our millions of customers. In this time, Post Office Limited has moved from a heavily loss making business overly reliant on subsidy, to the point where we are now in sight of a sustainable future. That the business is on the verge of completing this extraordinary turnaround is in no small part down to the role Kevin has played.

“Typical of his leadership and humility, Kevin has already acknowledged that the personal recognition he has rightly received is also recognition of the remarkable work and dedication of many others in the teams he has led.

“Kevin is a wonderful colleague who lives Post Office values in everything he does, delivering to high standards with care, commitment and challenge: working tirelessly to deliver a Post Office network which is better for its customers."

Kevin began his career as a counter clerk at Northampton Branch Office and went on to work in a cash unit and revenue protection. He implemented the first computer systems for cash management and billing systems in head post offices.

He served as a regional cash manager, district office management accountant and customer services manager before spending most of his career in various sales, marketing and account management roles.

He account managed government partnerships and helped to set up the first Post Office card account for pensions and benefits.

In 2004 he moved back into the network and played various roles including account management of the multiples and establishing the agency sales team before stepping into the role of Network and Sales Director a little over five years ago. He was promoted to become Post Office Retail Chief Executive in November.

Kevin’s honour is also in recognition of the work he has done on behalf of charitable causes – he has used his passion for music to form a band of Post Office colleagues who perform regularly to raise money for a variety of charities.