The Post Office has confirmed it will be axing 115 branches and hundreds of jobs in a major blow to Britain’s struggling high street.
The embattled postal giant said a significant number of jobs from its 1,000-strong head office staff will be cut.
And 115 major city centre Crown Post Offices will be scrapped, in a move that critics fear could leave pensioners and the vulnerable isolated.
The news was broken by Post Office chairman Nigel Railton shortly after 9am today, during a meeting with staff.
The struggling firm is looking to offload the 115 most unprofitable sites from its 11,500-strong network.
The shake-up could see the branches transferred to retail partners or postmasters or shut for good.
Here is the full list of Post Office’s earmarked for closure:
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 radical overhaul is part of the Post Office’s drive to transition to a fully franchised model – similar to how fast-food giant McDonald’s operates.
The model sees the company – or franchisor – giving permission to individuals or groups to run the business using its brand and products in exchange for a fee.
Almost all of the nation’s Post Office branches are now run as a franchise, with just one per cent directly overseen by the company.
News of the latest round of cuts could affect cities across the UK, with branches in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Belfast, Bangor, Portsmouth, Sheffield, Sunderland and Birmingham among some set to potentially lose their Post Offices.
The number of Post Office branches has been steadily declining in recent years.
In the 1960s there were about 25,000 branches nationwide. Currently there are now about 11,500 in operation.
Post Office chairman Mr Railton said the latest shake-up will also offer a ‘new deal for postmasters’ by increasing their share of revenue and giving them a greater say in the running of the business as it looks to move on from the Horizon IT scandal that saw hundreds of subpostmasters 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.
Making the announcement at the company’s headquarters in London on Wednesday, Mr 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.’
He added the overhaul also ‘begins a new phase of partnership during which we will strengthen the postmaster voice in the day-to-day running and operations of the business, so they are represented from the frontline to the boardroom’.
It follows a strategic review launched by Mr Railton in May, but is reliant on funding talks with government, which the Post Office said were ‘positive and ongoing’.
The government is also said to have been consulted on the possibility of handing ownership of the network to thousands of subpostmasters across the country.
The 115 branches put at risk are 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.’
But 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.’
But the Post Office insisted that aims are to franchise the branches or transfer ownership to other parties, such as its network of retail partners.
Retailers such as WH Smith, Tesco, Morrisons and the Co-Op operate around 2,000 Post Offices across the country.
The rest of the network – about 9,000 Post Offices – are operated by independent postmasters.
As part of the transformation, the Post Office is also setting up a new postmaster panel to increase support and training, as well as a consultative council ‘to ensure postmasters’ interests remain front and centre’.
A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade said: ‘Post Offices are an integral part of the communities they serve and the services they provide for local people.
‘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.’
A public inquiry remains ongoing into the Horizon IT scandal, which involved hundreds of subpostmasters who were wrongly convicted of stealing after the company’s defective accounting system made it appear as though money was missing from their branches.