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Poland Street all part of plan to ‘fix’ Post Office
• IN response to Councillor Danny Chalkley’s letter regarding the closure of the Poland Street post office (August 10) and Ms Susan Kaye’s support for the provision of post office services in libraries, may I try to enlighten said good people regarding the stance taken by Post Office management over these issues?
The needs of the community play second-fiddle to the new drive for profit.
Unlike major corporations, there are no shareholders involved, ergo, as the Post Office provides a public service there is no need to make massive profits.
I am not aware of any non-UK post office is run on a for profit basis.
As for the lack of consultation over the Poland Street post office closure, a quote from the Post Office Information for Customers leaflet should clarify that “the decision to transfer a Post Office branch to a franchise partner is a commercial decision to be taken solely by Post Office Ltd and is therefore not subject to public debate or consent”.
Simply put, customers and concerned parties will be informed eventually after the decision has been finalised, no input will be allowed and Post Office management will not be persuaded otherwise.
All users of Poland Street post office should be concerned that they will have to trek across Oxford Street but particularly senior citizens, less able-
bodied people and business banking customers for whom security and safety will be a major issue.
Let’s also bear in mind the distinct possibility that Newman Street post office is likely to be a casualty of new MD of Post Office Ltd Alan Cook.
The idea behind the franchise partnership with WH Smith is to combine retail, financial services (on behalf of the Bank of Ireland) and postal business in order to generate profits.
A stand-alone post office in a library simply does not meet these criteria.
In any case libraries are places of research and learning in a quite calm environment. Imagine a long, restless queue and “please go the cashier number 1, 2, 3” booming out continuously!
Twenty-four million customers a week use a post office; Mr Cook wishes to transfer the majority of these people to WH Smith.
He has devised a
five-year plan entitled Forward Four to Eleven. Part of this plan is the closure of Crown and sub post offices.
He has already commenced “fixing” the Post Office by franchising 75 Crown offices to WH Smith, earmarking a further 15 for closure and closing 2,500 sub offices.
Mr Cook’s previous employer Prudential closed 21 outlets with the loss of 2,000 staff.
The current post
office closure programme will involve the loss of up to 3,000 staff by 2008!
He is paid a quarter of a million pounds a year salary, £50,000 a year pension and has been promised a £1million bonus.
To say he has an interest in the eventual privatisation of the whole Post Office network would be the understatement of the millenium!
In the past Post Office management have tried ‘partnerships’ with other retail outlets with limited success. Now WH Smith. Could the answer be to leave well alone?
TONY REILLY
Finchley Road, NW11
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