Post Office Limited
| Post Office Ltd logo | |
| Company type | Wholly owned subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | postal service |
| Founded | 1986 |
| Headquarters | 80-86 Old Street, London EC1V 9NN |
Area served | United Kingdom |
| Parent | Royal Mail Group plc |
| Website | postoffice.co.uk |
Post Office Ltd (Template:Lang-cy; Template:Lang-gd) is a retail post office company in the United Kingdom that provides a wide range of products including postage stamps and banking to the public through its nationwide network of post office branches.
Structure
Post Office Ltd was separated from the postal service Royal Mail in 1986 but remains a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Mail Group Ltd. A large number of its branches are under franchise agreements.
There are currently around 14,000 Post Office branches across the UK of which approximately 370 are directly managed by Post Office Ltd. (known as Crown Post Offices). The majority of branches are either run by multiple franchise partners or local subpostmaster agents.
Services
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The Post Office has a wide variety of services throughout the network of branches. Products and services available vary throughout the network. Main post offices provide the full range of services.
- Mail services (Royal Mail services, stamps, Parcelforce Worldwide etc)
- Personal banking services (Paying-in, Withdrawals, Bill payments and Balance enquiries) for certain banks and NSandI only
- Business banking services
- National Lottery services
- Mobile phone E-Top-up (including purchasing Top-up vouchers)
- Processing passport, fishing licences, European Health Card, international driving permits and driver's licences applications
- Selling and cashing-in postal orders
- Keeping Post Restante mail (for up to 2 weeks for local mail and up to 1 month for international mail)
- Insurance services
- Home telephone services and telephone cards
- Foreign currency exchange and Travel Money Card
- Personal loans
- Bill payments
- Sales of gift vouchers for certain high street merchants
- Sorted! magazine
- Savings stamps
- Keepsafe and redirections
Some Post Offices also have cash machines, most notably operated by Bank of Ireland.
In towns, Post Offices are usually open from around 9am to 5.30pm on Monday - Friday and from 9am to 12.30pm on Saturday. In some country areas, opening hours are much shorter - perhaps only four hours per week. Most Post Offices are shut on Sundays and Bank Holidays.
Concerns
Long standing year on year losses (£102M loss in the second half of 2006 – the only loss making division of Royal Mail) The RM group turned a £22M profit in this same period Recent plans to cut the £150m-a-year subsidy for rural post offices lead to the announcement that 2500 post offices are to be closed. New technology means most of their additional services can be used online – e.g.:
- Paying car tax
- Receiving benefits payments
- Increased use of email means that for many people the postal service is becoming obsolete
- Increasing competition
The Post Office has been affected by closures in the last few years. This has caused much anger in local communities because the residents are unable to benefit from the postal and banking services that the Post Office provides.
It also increases business costs, as once the local Post Office has closed, people may have to drive some distance (perhaps five miles) to reach a Post Office.
Restructuring
The government has given a £1.7 billion subsidy to Royal Mail so that it can turn a profit by 2011. POL have refused to comment whether this money would be used for the £6 billion pension deficit, or to sustain the Crown Post Office network.
85 Crown Post Offices are to close, 70 of which are to be sold to W H Smith. This follows a trial of six Post Office Outlets in W H Smith stores. W H Smith is expected to make up to £2.5 million extra in its annual profits.
The closure of 2,500 sub-Post Offices will commence over the next 18 months. Redundancy packages will be provided from public funding, (subpostmasters are to get over 20 months pay, roughly £65,000, to close).[1]