Post Office to announce ‘transformation plan’ amid reports of job cuts
Chairman Nigel Railton is to announce new cost-cutting measures that could result in the closure of more than 100 branches across the country.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Post Office is to set out a “transformation plan” in a bid to fix its finances amid reports that hundreds of branches could close down.
The industry shake-up may result in the closure of 115 loss-making branches wholly owned by the Post Office – putting more than 1,000 jobs at risk, and hundreds more at the business’ headquarters, Sky News reported on Tuesday.
Post Office chairman Nigel Railton is expected to make the announcement at the company’s headquarters in London on Wednesday morning, addressing a speech to postmasters across the country, as well as retail partners and Post Office staff.
The Post Office network includes 11,500 branches across the UK – 115 of which are Crown Post Offices located in city centres and staffed by Post Office employees.
Sky News reported that the Post Office will seek to close those branches or seek alternative franchising arrangements in a bid to cut financial losses in the long-term.
A Post Office spokesperson said the new plan, which follows a strategic review earlier this year, 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 spokesperson added: “The plan intends to create a new operating model for the business that means ensuring the Post Office has the right organisational design.”
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 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 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.”
One government source told Sky News the plans should be seen in the context of comments made by Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, on Monday at the public inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal.
The scandal involved hundreds of subpostmasters who were wrongly convicted of stealing after the company’s defective Horizon accounting system made it appear as though money was missing from their branches.
I don't think postmasters make sufficient remuneration from what the public want from the Post Office, and I think that's going to require some very significant changes to the overall business model of the Post Office
Giving evidence at the inquiry, Mr Reynolds said: “I think, despite the scale of this scandal, the Post Office is still an incredibly important institution in national life.
“I look at the business model of the Post Office, and I think even accounting for the changes in the core services that are provided … there’s still a whole range of services that are really important.
“But I don’t think postmasters make sufficient remuneration from what the public want from the Post Office, and I think that’s going to require some very significant changes to the overall business model of the Post Office.”
Retail partners of the Post Office, such as WH Smith, Tesco, Morrisons and the Co-Op, operate 2,000 Post Offices across the country.
The rest of the network – around 9,000 Post Offices – are operated by independent postmasters.