Leigh Post Office at risk of closure as company announce new plans
Leigh Post Office is at risk of closure after the company announce plans to offload more than 100 branches.
The Post Office revealed it is looking to offload 115 directly-owned branches within its network, which could see them transferred to retail partners, postmasters or potentially closed.
Around 1,000 jobs are at risk for those employed across the branches, while the Post Office also confirmed that hundred of further roles at its headquarters are under threat.
Leigh’s Post Office branch on Silk Street, is one of the 115 branches that are at risk of closure.
Post Office chairman Nigel Railton said the shake-up will also offer a “new deal for postmasters” by increasing their share of revenue and giving them a greater say in the running of the business as it looks to move on from the Horizon IT scandal that saw hundreds of subpostmasters wrongfully convicted.
The plans are subject to government funding but would see the average branch pay doubled by 2030, with £120m in additional pay by the end of the first year.
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.”
The 115 branches put at risk are Crown Post Offices located in city centres and staffed by Post Office employees.
They are the only remaining branches directly owned by the company, down from nearly 400 in 2010.
A spokesperson 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.