Post Office ‘to close 115 branches and axe hundreds of head office jobs’

The BBC has reported that the Post Office is considering a major overhaul of its loss-making operations, which could see over 100 company-owned branches shut down and hundreds of head office roles at risk. The restructuring plans being mulled by Post Office chairman Nigel Railton include the potential closure of 115 unprofitable branches, with the livelihoods of many employees hanging in the balance.

The company’s head office staff, numbering around 3,000, are also facing uncertainty as the Post Office seeks to stabilise its financial position. A shift towards a franchise model is on the cards, with the possibility of other operators or third parties taking over struggling branches.

Presently, retailers such as the Co-op and WHSmith run approximately 2,000 Post Office outlets. The Post Office has indicated that any cost savings from these changes would be reinvested into the business, aiming to boost postmasters’ earnings and fund technological advancements like cash counting and self-service machines to enhance efficiency, as per the Sun.

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A spokesperson for the company has stated: “We will set out a ‘New Deal’ for postmasters and the future of the Post Office as an organisation.”

They added, “It will dramatically increase postmasters’ share of revenues, strengthen our branch network and make it work better for local communities, independent postmasters and our partners who own and operate branches.”

The new chairman of the Post Office, Nigel Railton, who was appointed earlier this year after his predecessor was dismissed, is set to update staff on Wednesday about the results of a review initiated shortly after he assumed his role. The review was started to identify areas where fundamental changes are needed across the country.

Currently, there are 11,500 Post Offices nationwide, with the majority operating as franchises. However, 115 are still company-owned and these could be at risk of closure following the review, reports the Express.

The company has been severely impacted by the Post Office scandal, which saw hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongly prosecuted due to a faulty IT system that suggested money had disappeared. The ongoing inquiry has revealed evidence suggesting that senior figures within the company were aware of the fault but concealed it, resulting in numerous postmasters being convicted.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds informed the inquiry on Monday that he didn’t believe sub-postmasters were receiving appropriate pay for the volume of business they handle. Reynolds told the Horizon inquiry that there was still “tremendous affection” for the Post Office among the UK public and a “desire for it to have a strong future.”

He stated that the Post Office “has to be one that has a significantly smaller centre” and that sub-postmasters required better pay, adding “that will necessitate some quite considerable changes to the organisation centrally to do that”.

Railton himself has confessed to the inquiry that a fresh agreement was required for sub-postmasters, one that would place them at the heart of the business.