The Post Office has announced that 115 branches are at risk of closure and 1,000 staff will lose their jobs.
There are roughly 11,500 Post Office branches in the UK – 115 are ‘wholly-owned’ by the company while the rest operate out of partners like WHSmith.
But the Post Office says it will shut or franchise its wholly-owned branches as the company tries to balance the books.
Hundreds of head office jobs are also on the line.
Full list of Post Offices at risk:
Antrim
Bangor
Belfast City
Edinburgh City
Glasgow
Haddington
Inverness
Kirkwall
Londonderry
Newtownards
Saltcoats
Springburn Way
Stornoway
Wester Hailes
Barnes Green
Bransholme
Bridlington
Chester Le Street
Crossgates
Eccles
Furness House
Grimsby
Hyde
Kendal
Manchester
Morecambe
Morley
Poulton Le Fylde
Prestwich
Rotherham
Salford City
Sheffield City
South Shields
St Johns
Sunderland City
The Markets
Birmingham
Breck Road
Caernarfon
Didsbury Village
Harlesden
Kettering
Kingsbury
Leigh
Leighton Buzzard
Matlock
Milton Keynes
Northolt
Old Swan
Oswestry
Oxford
Redditch
Southall
St Peters Street
Stamford
Stockport
Wealdstone
Barnet
Cambridge City
Canning Town
Cricklewood
Dereham
Golders Green
Hampstead
Harold Hill
Kilburn
Kingsland High Street
Lower Edmonton
Roman Road
South Ockendon
Stamford Hill
Bideford
Dunraven Place
Gloucester
Liskeard
Merthyr Tydfil
Mutley
Nailsea
Newquay
Paignton
Port Talbot
Stroud
Teignmouth
Yate Sodbury
Baker Street
Bexhill On Sea
Cosham
Great Portland Street
Croydon High Street (10)
Kensington
Knightsbridge
Melville Road
Paddington Quay
Portsmouth
Raynes Park
Romsey
Westbourne
Windsor
Worlds End
Aldwych
Brixton
Broadway
City of London
Clapham Common
East Dulwich
Eccleston Street
High Holborn
Houndsditch
Islington
Kennington Park
London Bridge
Lupus Street
Mount Pleasant
Vauxhall Bridge Road
The Post Office has been gutting its wholly-owned branches, known as crown post offices, for years.
In 2012, there were almost 400. As of March 2023, however, there were only 117.
Under the plans, announced today by chairman Nigel Railton, not all Post Office branches will necessarily shut.
Some may instead be transferred to retail partners or postmasters. WHSmith, Tesco, Morrisons and the Co-Op operate 2,000 Post Offices.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said to slash so many jobs and post offices amid the public inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal is ‘immoral’ and ‘tone deaf’ at best.
Dave Ward, general secretary of the union, said: ‘CWU members are victims of the Horizon scandal – and for them to now fear for their jobs ahead of Christmas is yet another cruel attack.’
The Post Office said: ‘The plan intends to create a new operating model for the business that means ensuring the Post Office has the right organisational design.’
The Horizon IT scandal is seen as the worst miscarriages of justice in British history, seeing more than 700 people convicted for a crime they didn’t commit.
They were wrongly accused of theft between 1999 and 2015 after a faulty IT system called Horizon created false shortfalls in their accounting.
Railton said: ‘The Post Office has a 360-year history of public service and today we want to secure that service for the future by learning from past mistakes and moving forward for the benefit of all postmasters.
‘We can, and will, restore pride in working for a business with a legacy of service, rather than one of scandal.’
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