'Six Post Offices closing every week in UK' as Ayrshire Postmaster calls for urgent support
According to their industry body, Seven out of 10 sub-postmasters now earn below the minimum wage.
Post Offices in rural communities are facing closures in the near future, if financial help isn’t issued by the UK government soon, an Ayrshire Postmaster says.
According to their industry body, Seven out of 10 sub-postmasters now earn below the minimum wage, with many having to adapt their set-up to create a second income to survive.
Almost 40 post offices have closed in Scotland in the last two years and more than 90 in the last 10 years, and North Ayrshire MP Patricia Gibson says six post offices are closing every week across the UK.
Footfall decline from Kilwinning closure
Ayrshire’s most recent closure was in Kilwinning at the start of 2023, and shopkeepers in the area are telling West FM that it’s had devastating impacts on the high street with footfall declining by half since it closed.
Owner of the Purple Daisy in Kilwinning, Ann Marie said: “Footfall has definitely fallen, certainly in the morning. We’re just not getting the passing trade anymore, and I’m certainly not with it being right next door.
“But it’s having a direct impact on how business operates in Kilwinning too. Many shops would rely on the Post Office being within walking distance to post out goods to customers during the work day and now they’re having to make other arrangements. It’s killing business.”
Only 1% of Post Office branches are owned by the Post Office, with the majority of the rest being owned by sub-postmasters earning incomes from commission to services including parcel processing and stamp sales.
"If we don’t receive any help we’re not going to be here."
Owner and Postmaster of Largs local branch, Susan Craddock is telling West FM that Post Offices are being backed into a corner when it comes to the day-to-day running of the operation.
Susan has had to open up a café within her branch to try make ends meet, and has taken out substantial loans just to keep going. She says the Government need to take accountability for the current state of Post Offices and force Post Office Ltd to provide more financial help after it’s dwindled over the last 15 years.
She said: “There used to be a fixed element to our pay, which paid for some of the staff and paid for some of the bills. But there’s nothing now. They’ve stopped all of that and its only commission now, and for example we’ll get about 2 pence per second class stamp.
“The Financial support goes to the Post Office, and they don’t give it to us. They keep asking the government for money and if they get it, they don’t pass it down to us. They have all these middle managers and retail directors. They don’t have any retail, we have it from adapting our shops, and they don’t do a thing.
“I’d hate to let everyone down by closing but its already unsustainable. All the burden is being put on us and they know that we’ll do everything for our customers, staff and wider community and they’re just playing with us now.
“The simple fact is if we don’t receive any help we’re not going to be here.”
MP calls for urgent relief
Patricia Gibson recently raised the issue in parliament to Penny Mourdant and says she’s doing everything she can to secure help for sub-Post Offices.
She told West FM: “Our Post Offices are very important to our communities, but we cannot expect the majority of post masters to earn lower than minimum wage. If we value our post offices and our postmasters, we need to support them.
“There are six post offices now closing every week in the UK, and many sub post-masters are only staying open because they are baring the financial and emotional burden of providing a vital local service, which in turn has impacts on their on physical and mental health.
“I have met with Mark Gibson, external affairs manager at Post Office Ltd and every option and avenue is being actively explored to try and secure alternative postal services for Kilwinning after it closed.
“I want to reassure my constituents that I will continue to work with Post Office Ltd to try and secure a replacement, and I’ll continue to lobby the UK government to provide additional support to our struggling post offices when the current level of support with energy costs comes to an end on the 31st of March. The UK Government also needs to urgently review the level of subsidy for our Post Offices.”
Post Office response
A Post Office spokesperson said: “We are sorry to hear of the experiences one of our Postmaster’s is facing. This is the most challenging economic climate retailers have faced in decades and we fully recognise the pressures Postmasters face to keep their branch open and serve their local community.
“Post Office increased remuneration rates in August to support Postmasters, including a one-off lump sum to help with the difficult winter. We have also secured partnerships with Amazon, DPD and DHL Express to help increase footfall for our postmasters and have just announced a new trial partnership with Evri.
“However, we made clear to postmasters last August that further help, particularly with energy costs, would be required from the UK Government who is the sole shareholder of the Post Office. The Energy Bill Relief Scheme announced in September that provides a saving until the end of March 2023 was not only welcome but vital. We said that if postmasters lose the support for their business energy costs, this could significantly affect their ability to stay open and help millions of people access the vital services we offer. The Government previously announced details of the energy support that will be provided to businesses from April for the next year. We continue to study the detail to see how the support that has been announced will impact our 11,500 Post Offices across the country.”