More than 100 Post Office branches and some 1,000 jobs are at risk under a sweeping overhaul.
The Post Office is looking to offload 115 directly-owned branches within its 11,500-strong network, which could see them transferred to retail partners or postmasters or even closed.
Besides the 1,000 workers employed across the branches, the Post Office also confirmed on Wednesday (November 13) that hundreds more roles are under threat at its HQ as it looks to streamline back office operations.
Post Office chairman Nigel Railton said the shake-up would offer a “new deal for postmasters” by increasing their share of revenue and giving them a greater say in the running of the business.
But it will come as a blow to subpostmasters as the company looks to move on from the Horizon IT scandal that saw hundreds wrongfully convicted.
The plans, which are subject to government funding, would see average branch pay doubled by 2030, with £120million in additional pay by the end of the first year.
Express.co.uk has asked the Post Office to confirm which branches are at risk of closure.
The 115 branches put at risk are Crown Post Offices located in city centres and staffed by Post Office employees.
They are the only remaining branches directly owned by the Post Office, down from close to 400 in 2010.
A spokesman for 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 Communication Workers Union (CWU) union called on the Post Office to halt the plans and for the Government to intervene.
CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: “For the company to announce the closure of hundreds of Post Offices hot on the heels of the Horizon scandal is as tone deaf as it is immoral.
“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.”
