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John took on his first Post Office at Gilberdyke in June 2010
Popular postmaster John Shepherd has retired from running Gilberdyke Post Office and the two outreach branches he started at Eastrington and Broomfleet. After a successful retail career with Tesco in southern England, Yorkshire-born John and his wife, Susan, returned north so they could be closer to their parents, who lived in Hull and Leeds.
John took on his first Post Office at Gilberdyke in June 2010, and he considers it a privilege to have served the village where he got to know the community really well.
The long-serving postmaster said: “I have cherished every minute of my time here as postmaster. It really has been a privilege to serve the people of Gilberdyke and also went on to operate Post Office outreach services in Eastrington and Broomfleet.”
He also opened a convenience store shop and Post Office in Hook in 2015 as the village had no food store and needed someone to take on the Post Office. He undertook the work to provide much-needed services to the village, until the community was able to take over its running.
John is proud of the business that he built up and that he and his staff remained fully open during Covid and his customers were very appreciative as that allowed them to stay local.
He clearly remembers his first winter in rural Gilberdyke – it was the worst weather that he has experienced in all of his life. There was deep snow constantly on the ground from December 1 until the new year.
Local farmers with tractors cleared snow from local roads and John was able to maintain service and supplies to the village and ensure that Christmas cards and parcels could still be sent.
A new experienced postmaster, Rachel Chandrakumar, from Nottinghamshire, officially took over on January 27. Rachel has already been introduced to customers and staff by John.
John has also made a difference to people’s lives in Gilberdyke by starting a table tennis club and introduced live music to the village, including a recent charity concert which raised £707 for the Postmasters Benevolent Fund that provided financial assistance to individuals experiencing hardship issues.
John has also been keen to help other postmasters across the UK. When postmasters realised there were issues with the Post Office computer system, John was one of the postmasters who became part of a national Post Office Branch Users Forum to help identify issues, improving processes and ways of working.
He also got involved with Post Office Branch Engagement and campaigns to highlight how Post Offices are at the heart of communities, the vital roles of postmasters and how they go above and beyond for their customers.
John was involved in a group with the idea of filming pioneering short documentary-style videos for social media to highlight the important social role that Post Offices provide as well as raising awareness of the wide range of Post Office services they provide including everyday banking, mails, home shopping returns, bill payments, vehicle tax renewal and foreign currency, passport renewals and ID verification services.
In November, the tables were turned on John when he received a surprise from some fellow postmasters and a camera crew to film him at his branch.
John was presented with a certificate of appreciation to show Post Office’s thanks for his innovative support for other Post Offices.
Post Office Area Manager, Martin Wyer, said: “I really want to really thank John Shepherd for the excellent Post Office service that he has provided to his community for the past 15 years and for all that he has done for fellow postmasters too.”
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