Post Office branch ‘crisis’ as 500 close in 15 years
communities all over Scotland – and they need to be stopped.
“The SNP will continue to campaign against the closure of rural Post Offices – and call for the expansion of services available, including local banking.”
The House of Commons figures show that in 2002, Scotland had 1187 rural post offices and 717 urban branches.
Now, there are 929 and 474 respectively – 501 fewer in total.
David B o w m a k e r, of the Communication Workers’ Union, JUST a year ago, Rory Paterson was striding through the grouse moors of the Highlands, stalking deer and casting his rod into rivers teeming with salmon.
But now the former ghillie lives a very different life – promoting fishing and shooting among the skyscrapers of New York.
Rory has been appointed “North American ambassador” for Galbraith Sporting Lets, which works with some of Scotland’s top country estates.
His job is to promote Scotland’s fishing, shooting and hunting overseas – and with a booming American market, there’s plenty of interest.
He said: “There is significant appetite from American country sports enthusiasts to enjoy the traditional Scottish field sports experience.
“History, traditions, whisky and ease of travel all play a part. “I have been overwhelmed by the interest and enthusiasm.”
The picturesque Highlands are widely recognised as a hub of country pursuits, and with 38 million country sports enthusiasts in the US alone, that represents a huge tourism market. Rory, who is from New Galloway in the Borders, moved to New York in October last year with his wife and
dogs. said: “The Post Office is in crisis. It has lost business over the years, and the response from the Post Office has been to cut their way to profit instead of looking at a different approach to the changing demands within society.
“There must be an alternative to this approach to this slow, managed decline of a national institution.”
A Sunday Post investigation last year found 78 Post Office closures had gone unannounced as they were classified as “temporary”, even though many had been shut for more than a year.
The Post Office insisted these branches could reopen but union chiefs said this was unrealistic.
Tom Moran, network development director at the Post Office, said: “The Post Office network is at its most stable for decades thanks to the largest investment programme in our history, which is why the number of branches in Scotland has varied by fewer than
Rory’s job is to sell field sports to potential US visitors. 10 over the last four years. People now have unprecedented access to our services, with over 27,000 extra opening hours per week and over 540 branches now open on Sunday.
“However, we do understand that branches which are temporarily closed can be a real concern, particularly in rural areas.
“They may have to close for a number of reasons and it can be more challenging to solve these issues in rural communities, where finding another site or suitable operator is not always easy.
“We always work hard to restore services as quickly as possible.
“Examples of this are Finstown branch on the Island of Orkney, which was temporary closed but reopened in June this year and the new Isle of Harris mobile service has recently restored services to five areas.
“By the end of this month, we will also have opened five new Post Office branches in Scotland since April.”