Related Articles
There will be no Post Office branch closure bloodbath, its new boss promised. In relief to communities across Britain a nd a n army of loyal postmasters, the 11,500-strong nationwide network of trusted counters is set to remain the heartbeat of the high street.
It means towns decimated by the desertion of big-name banks and shops will keep their lifeline. In his first major interview, defiant Post Office chief executive Neil Brocklehurst told the Express: “I have heard no plans to change the number from 11,500 and I can unequivocally say that. There is nothing in our plans to suggest that will change. The numbers will stay as they are, and the locations will stay as they are.”
The first comprehensive review of the beleaguered state-run company in 15 years sparked widespread panic because the Government is consulting on the need to keep branches open.
One option in the Post Office Green Paper is to withdraw the minimum branch requirement – introduced by the Tory-led coalition in 2010 after Labour slashed the network in the previous decade.
That led to trepidation that towns could be left with what amounts to a bare minimum service agreement in moves that would prove ruinous for communities across the UK. The crisis saw the Express launch its Save Our Post Offices crusade.
But moving to allay fears of a brutal cull, Mr Brocklehurst said: “The 11,500 is a number, but we also have criteria about access – where those branches are placed – because in rural communities those post offices are lifelines.
“There’s criteria on top of the number about where those branches are located. People have to be within certain distances of Post Offices and, again, I have seen nothing to suggest that would change.
“I would reiterate to Express readers the Green Paper is a fantastic opportunity to make their voices heard – and the one thing people can do to make sure their Post Office is safe is to use it.”
The former Camelot boss was appointed as a firefighter to turn around the ailing company, whose reputation hit rock bottom after the Horizon IT scandal, which saw hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongly convicted of fraud and false accounting.
He says he can turn the shattered business around in five years, transforming it from a clunky, analogue-focused firm subsidising sleepy, loss-making branches into an operation fit for the digital age.
The consultation, which runs until October 6, could see the minimum branch benchmark ditched, shrinking the network’s size. But that is vanishingly unlikely, given that at least 99% of the population has to be within three miles of a branch and anger and outcry over another death knell for the battered high street.
Father-of-three Mr Brocklehurst, 49, said: “Yes, it is in the Green Paper, but the Government hasn’t looked at Post Offices since about 2010, so it is only right to ask the question.
“The business has lacked a strategy for a number of years.
“One of the pieces of work we are doing at the moment is to articulate the point and purpose of the Post Office in modern Britain. What is it there to do?
“And in my opinion, it is there to serve communities up and down the UK and be the hub of the high street.
“Everyone wants a Post Office, and everyone loves Post Offices, but when I speak to them and say ‘when did you last go in?’ they say, ‘oh, I don’t go in…it’s great for someone else’. We have to make it relevant for everyone.
“I look at my own children. Why would they go into a Post Office? And actually, there are numerous opportunities for us to create products and offerings to catch that next generation. We just need to do a better job of communicating the great range of services that postmasters provide.”
The one hope for the scandal-plagued company is that it has remained one of the few constants on a rapidly evolving high street, which has been torpedoed by the impact of savage National Insurance, rate and rent rises. The resulting slew of bank branch, shop and store closures has left millions, particularly pensioners, high and dry.
Asked whether he would deliver on his promise to transform the Post Office from a pariah to a friend of the public, bullish Mr Brocklehurst said: “Yes. There is no world that exists where a Post Office can be successful and postmasters cannot. I truly believe there is a successful business here.
“I think there is a reservoir of love and affection towards postmasters, rather than the Post Office, at this stage and I think that gives me huge hope for the future.
“I can’t imagine a UK without a Post Office on the high street. That’s not likely, but my purpose and that of the team we have recruited is we are solely focused on turning the business around so we can then provide options.
“One of the things that has been talked about is future ownership structures – should the Post Office potentially be mutualised? Should we put it in the ownership (of the postmasters)?
“At the moment the finances are in such a shape that it couldn’t because we would be asking (postmasters) to take on such large debts. It’s just not sustainable, but everything is on the table.”
Loyal postmasters, some of whom have seen reputations and finances ruined by previous Post Office regimes, have been forced to subsidise loss-making post and parcel services with retail offerings like mini-supermarkets and sales of greetings cards and stationery.
One told the Express: “Our main concern is the financial viability of running a Post Office. Most postmasters’ retail businesses subsidise their Post Office, and this is not right or sustainable.
“Post Offices provide essential services to our communities, yet postmasters are paying for it.
“I don’t believe the Post Office can ever be a commercially viable company and will always need a substantial subsidy or income from other sources in order to provide postmasters with a fair income.”
Baroness Ros Altmann, the campaigning crossbench peer, said: “For so many elderly people, Post Offices are a lifeline to help them with their money and sell them stamps for the letters they use to keep in touch with friends and family. Older people are so familiar with Post Offices and, as more banks are closing branches, their lives would be poorer without them.”
The Green Paper seeks to transform a historically complacent and lacklustre Post Office culture while addressing ways to balance an explosion in online shopping with falling demand for traditional post.
Post Office Minister Gareth Thomas said: “Post Offices continue to be a central part of our high streets and communities across the country. However, after 15 years without a proper review, and in the aftermath of the Horizon scandal, it’s clear we need a fresh vision for its future.
“This Green Paper marks the start of an honest conversation about what people want and need from their Post Office in the years ahead.”
Source link
