Great Portland Street post office under threat of closure, again

Great Portland Street post office is once again threatened with closure after the chairman of the company announced a series of changes to the organisation which could see more than 30 such closures across London.

In February 2020 staff at the “crown” post office on the corner of Mortimer Street in Fitzrovia West were told the branch would close and it would be transferred to an “independent franchise partner”.

However, those plans were later dropped and staff were told in November 2020 that it would continue to be operated as a directly run crown office.

But this week the Post Office’s chairman Nigel Railton announced a “new deal” for sub-postmasters and the need for an “honest conversation” about the directly managed branches, more commonly known as “crown” post offices.

In a statement released to the media, a Post Office spokesperson said: “We are considering a range of options to reduce our central costs. This includes considering the future of our remaining directly managed branches (DMBs), which are loss-making.

“We have had 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 Post Office has confirmed that it wants to get rid of 115 DMBs across the country and hopes to see them all run as franchises by sub-postmasters within the next five years.

Railton’s announcement comes as the public inquiry into the scandal of the failed computer system installed by the Post Office for use by sub-postmasters reaches its final stages.

Dave Ward, general secretary of the Communications Workers Union (CWU), said “the closure of hundreds of post offices hot on the heels of the Horizon scandal is as tone deaf as it is immoral”.

Up to 2,000 jobs could be lost under the plans to reorganise the company which is wholly owned by the Department of Business and Trade.

A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade said: “The government is in active discussion with Nigel Railton on his plans to put postmasters at the centre of the organisation and strengthen the post office network for its long-term future.”

Rachel Blake, MP for Cities of London and Westminster, has said that ten crown post offices in her constituency are under threat and is calling for the closures to be halted.

“Post offices provide essential face-to-face services for many local businesses and residents, including cash, banking and financial services,” she says.

“This is particularly crucial for older residents and those who don’t use online banking, those who speak English as a second language and those with disabilities who may have difficulties interfacing with online systems.”

Blake has organised a petition against the closures and says she will be meeting with a representative of the Post Office.

“We need to strengthen the Post Office in consultation with postmasters, trade unions, customers and communities,” she says.

London branches facing possible closure.

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This article was updated shortly after publication to include a reference to Rachel Blake MP and her campaign to save the crown post offices in Cities of London and Westminster.