Post office could move into shop (From Kidderminster Shuttle)

Post office could move into shop

8:10am Thursday 14th February 2013 in News By Cadisha Brown

KIDDERMINSTER’S town centre post office could be closed down and moved into a shop in the town.

The Crown House post office is one of 70 branches across the country that could be shut and reopened in stores such as Co-op and WH Smith to try to solve nationwide post office losses of £40 million a year.

A spokeswoman for the Post Office said it was not a closure programme, adding a post office would still remain in the town if a retailer was not found.

She added: “We are currently undertaking the biggest business transformation programme in the history of the Post Office.

“Our overall investment will maintain the size of the network and modernise branches to meet customer needs.

“Crown branches are a fundamental part of our long-term growth strategy and need to be brought into profit (currently operating at a £40 million annual loss).

“To maintain our high street presence ,we will be looking to find retail partners for 70 of our branches, enabling us to stay in these locations.

“Kidderminster Crown Post Office has been identified as a branch that could potentially be partnered with a retailer. It will be subject to a six-week public consultation to gather the views of the local community. We are committed to having a Post Office branch within the area.

“The Post Office successfully works with many retail partners.

We already have more than 3,000 branches across the UK where customers are accessing services in this way. If no retail partner is found we are still committed to having a Crown Post Office within the area. This is not a closure programme and there are no compulsory redundancies planned as part of this strategy.”

She added moving branches into retailers would also mean modernising the space, making them open plan and with longer opening hours, where possible.