Four NI Post Office branches at risk of closure amid cost-saving plans

Four Post Office branches in Northern Ireland are facing potential closure, following the announcement that the Post Office is seeking to reduce their central costs.

The four branches, which are Directly Managed Branches, are based in Belfast City, Bangor, Newtownards and Londonderry.

While no official announcement has been made about any branch, a Post Office spokesperson told NR they were considering a range of options.

“This includes considering the future of our remaining Directly Managed Branches, which are loss-making,” said the spokesperson.

“We have long held a publicly-stated ambition to move to a fully-franchised network and we are in dialogue with the unions about future options for the DMBs.”

The news comes as Post Office Chair, Nigel Railton set out a five-year Transformation Plan to deliver a ‘New Deal for Postmasters’, which aims to significantly increase their total annual income through revenue sharing and strengthens their role in the direction of the organisation.

It follows a Strategic Review initiated by Mr Railton in May and sets out plans to deliver a quarter of a billion pounds boost to postmasters’ income by 2030.

‘CONSIDER ALTERNATIVES’

In a speech delivered to postmasters and Post Office staff, he outlined the commercial, operational, cultural, and reputational challenges that must be addressed to deliver change for postmasters and learn the lessons from the Horizon IT public inquiry.

The Communication Workers Union said they were told the cost of the losses in the Crown Network is around £30 million per year, and they were seeking to see those numbers and called for an opportunity to put forward alternative proposals.

Speaking on Sky News, Dave Ward, General Secretary of the CWU said: “We believe that the Crown Office Network can be secure and jobs can be secure if they were to consider proposals such as turning the Post Office into banking hubs, a post-bank community hubs.

“There’s lots of good ideas, but what we need is the time to do that, to consider the alternatives.”

Up to 115 Post Office branches and hundreds of jobs at head office are at risk as part of a radical shake-up of the business. It is looking at options for its wholly-owned branches. The government-owned Post Office has 11,500 branches across the UK, most of which are franchises, with 115 Crown Post Offices.