Post Office completes the franchising of 108 Directly Managed Branches

The Post Office has today (27 November) confirmed that the last of its 108 Directly Managed Branches has been successfully franchised.

As part of its commitment to deliver a ‘New Deal for Postmasters’, the Post Office had previously announced on 8 April that it was moving to a fully franchised network.

The Post Office’s Directly Managed Branches had generated a fully allocated loss (including central and support costs) of over £40 million each year. Following consultation with unions and reviewing options with the Postmaster Consultative Council, a decision was taken by the Post Office Board to move to a fully franchised network in order to help fund increases in the remuneration Postmasters receive.

At the end of May, the Post Office announced its franchising plans for the first tranche of Directly Managed branches. Today, six months on, the last of the 108 Directly Managed Branches – Inverness – is now formally operated by the Co-op Group.

Number of formerly Directly Managed Branches by operator:

Neil Brocklehurst, Post Office Chief Executive, said:

“Moving to a fully franchised network is one part of enabling the Post Office to deliver a ‘New Deal for Postmasters’, helping to create a long-term, sustainable future for the Post Office. Working collaboratively with independent scale partners, our retail partners and our unions, it’s a significant achievement to have been able to franchise 108 branches in just six months.

“We will ensure all Postmasters and retail partners across our network benefit from increased remuneration as a result of this franchising process. But crucially, also ensure customers continue to access our products and services at or close to the locations where these Directly Managed Branches were located.

“I want to thank the many colleagues who had previously worked at these Directly Managed Branches, some of whom had worked at the same branch for decades, for their dedication to serving their community and wish them well in their future endeavours.”

In a small number of locations, the pre-existing Post Office Directly Managed Branch will continue to operate for a short period whilst Post Office’s retail partners initially set-up their new branch; as well as to provide additional support in the area in the run-up to the busy Christmas period. Where the pre-existing Directly Managed Branch operates for this short period of time, Post Office services are being provided by a temporary operator.