Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
‘Talks over Post Office franchise are a total sham’
held on March 27 in the Queen’s Hotel where staff and users will be able to have their say on the issue.
The Post Office says that although it’s received interest in the branch, it may take up to 18 months for any changes to be made. A spokeswoman said: “We advertised for potential suitable retail partners interested in operating a franchise branch near to the current site and we have had registered interest which is now being explored.
“There will be a six-week public consultation on detailed proposals when these are drawn up but we are not at that stage yet.
“No final decision is made until we have carefully considered all the feedback from public consultations.
“The reason we are looking to potentially franchise the branch is to enable us to provide the same services for our customers in the area into the future.
“We are committed to keeping our branches on high streets and franchising can be a sustainable way of doing so. The majority of Post Office branches are already run in this way.
“We have continued to discuss the reasons for franchising some of our branches that are currently directly managed with our unions and also to keep the staff affected informed.
“There is a huge amount of planning involved.”