Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Post Office move confirmed (UPDATED)

It has been confirmed that the current Crown Post Office in Acocks Green Village is to relocate to a new site on the other side of the road by Iceland. It will be in a new news, tobacco and confectionary store run by a firm called ZCO and will have extended opening hours too - opening 0830-1800 Monday to Saturday, rather than 0900-1730 as it is now. Accessibility for those with mobility problems is to be improved and a hearing loop installed.

A six week public consultation starts today with a proposed move planned for January 2015. There will be a Customer Communication Forum event as part of the consultation and I'll post details of that when I have more information. You can find details of the consultation here, including how to put your views into the process.

The Post Office have confirmed that there will be no compulsory redundancies - staff can transfer across to the new operator or can seek work within the rest of the Post Office.

I will be asking the Post Office to guarantee the long term future of this. Where this has happened elsewhere in the country and the new operator has subsequently closed, then the Post Office concession has also closed. I'd like reassurance that the Post Office will remain a feature of the Village - it is heavily used and valued by our residents. We will also lose the Home Office Digital Application Service - where will the nearest branch be that can offer this?

Let me know what you think. 

Comments from the Post Office:

What will this mean for customers? 
  • A modern open plan branch in newly refurbished premises 
  • Longer opening hours
  • The same wide range of products and services. For reasons outside Post Office Limited's control, we cannot yet confirm whether or not a cash machine will be available at the new branch. The provision of a cash machine is subject to a survey by our cash machine provider and relevant planning permission. 
  • The new branch will not have the Digital Application Services for the Home Office 
  • Selected Post Office services available at the retail counter during shop opening hours

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