‘More than 100’ Post Office branches and ‘hundreds of jobs at risk’ after review

Over 100 Post Office branches and hundreds of head office jobs are at risk as the company plans a radical shake up of its loss-making business, according to the BBC.

Under the reported plans being considered by Post Office chairman Nigel Railton, 115 loss-making Post Offices wholly owned by the company could be closed with hundreds of jobs placed at risk as a result.

Many of the 3,000 staff in the company’s head office could also see their jobs put at risk as the company aims to put itself on a firmer financial footing.

It is understood that the company is considering whether a franchise model could see an upturn in fortunes placing another operator or third party in charge of the flailing branches.

There are currently around 2,000 Post Offices operated by retailers such as the Co-op and WHSmith.

The company has said that cost-savings could be reinvested back into the business, increasing postmasters’ pay and investing in technology such as cash counting and self-service machines which could make the business more efficient, according to the Sun.

A spokesperson said: “We will set out a ‘New Deal’ for postmasters and the future of the Post Office as an organisation.

“It 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 Post Office’s new chairman Nigel Railton, appointed earlier this year after his predecessor was sacked, is set to brief staff on Wednesday on the outcome of a review launched shortly after he took over the role.

The review was launched to assess the areas in which the country needs to be fundamentally changed.

There are currently 11,500 Post Offices across the country, with the vast majority being run as franchises.

Some 115 are still owned by the company and it is these who could be at risk of closure following the review.

The company has been severely hit by the Post Office scandal which saw hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongly prosecuted after a faulty IT system made it appear that money had gone missing.

The ongoing inquiry has seen evidence suggesting that senior figures within the business were aware of the fault but covered it up, with dozens of postmasters being convicted as a result.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told the inquiry on Monday that he didn’t feel sub-postmasters were getting appropriate pay for the amount of business they conduct.

Reynolds told the Horizon inquiry there was still “tremendous affection” for the Post Office among the UK public and a “desire for it to have a strong future.”

He said the Post Office “has to be one that has a significantly smaller centre” and sub-postmasters needed better pay, adding “that will necessitate some quite considerable changes to the organisation centrally to do that”.

Railton himself has admitted to the inquiry that a new deal was needed for sub-postmasters that would put them at the centre of the business.