Over 100 Post Office branches and 1,000 jobs at risk under sweeping overhaul, as union slams 'cruel' changes

13 November 2024, 10:18

The Post Office has put 115 branches at risk. Picture: Alamy

By Kit Heren

Over 100 Post Office branches are at risk under a shake-up announced on Wednesday, along with around 1,000 jobs.

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The Post Office said it was looking to hand over 115 of its directly-owned branches to retailers or postmasters.

That means more existing branches could be operated by shops or independently in future - or they could close.

Some 1,000 staff members work across the 115 branches, so they could lose their jobs if they shut their doors. Hundreds more roles are also under threat at Post Office headquarters.

Post Office chairman Nigel Railton said the corporate overhaul will also offer a "new deal for postmasters" by increasing their share of revenue and giving them more say in how the business operates.

115 Post Office branches could close. Picture: Getty

The Post Office is seeking to move on from the Horizon IT scandal that made headlines for weeks earlier this year. Hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongfully convicted because of an IT glitch over several years.

Mr Railton made the announcement at the company's headquarters in London on Wednesday in a speech to postmasters across the country, as well as retail partners and Post Office staff.

He said: "The Post Office has a 360-year history of public service and today we want to secure that service for the future by learning from past mistakes and moving forward for the benefit of all postmasters.

"We can, and will, restore pride in working for a business with a legacy of service, rather than one of scandal."

He added the overhaul also "begins a new phase of partnership during which we will strengthen the postmaster voice in the day-to-day running and operations of the business, so they are represented from the frontline to the boardroom".

It follows a strategic review launched by Mr Railton in May, but is reliant on funding talks with government, which the Post Office said were "positive and ongoing".

The government is also said to have been consulted on the possibility of handing ownership of the network to thousands of subpostmasters across the country.

The 115 branches put at risk are are Crown Post Offices located in city centres and staffed by Post Office employees.

They are the only remaining branches directly owned by the Post Office, down from close to 400 in 2010.

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A spokesman for the Post Office said: "The plan intends to create a new operating model for the business that means ensuring the Post Office has the right organisational design."

But the Communication Workers Union (CWU) union called on the Post Office to halt the plans and for the Government to intervene.

CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: "For the company to announce the closure of hundreds of Post Offices hot on the heels of the Horizon scandal is as tone deaf as it is immoral.

"CWU members are victims of the Horizon scandal - and for them to now fear for their jobs ahead of Christmas is yet another cruel attack."

But the Post Office insisted that aims are to franchise the branches or transfer ownership to other parties, such as its network of retail partners.

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Retailers such as WH Smith, Tesco, Morrisons and the Co-Op operate around 2,000 Post Offices across the country.

The rest of the network - about 9,000 Post Offices - are operated by independent postmasters.

As part of the transformation, the Post Office is also setting up a new postmaster panel to increase support and training, as well as a consultative council "to ensure postmasters' interests remain front and centre".

A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade said: "Post Offices are an integral part of the communities they serve and the services they provide for local people.

"The Government is in active discussion with Nigel Railton on his plans to put postmasters at the centre of the organisation and strengthen the Post Office network for its long-term future."

A public inquiry remains ongoing into the Horizon IT scandal, which involved hundreds of subpostmasters who were wrongly convicted of stealing after the company's defective accounting system made it appear as though money was missing from their branches.