Press release -
Defining the Public Purpose of the Post Office
- Post Office seeks views on public purpose
The Post Office has been providing essential services to communities from tiny villages to large cities for almost 400 years. With around 11,700 branches, the Post Office operates the largest retail network in the UK and 99.7% of the population is within three miles of a Post Office branch. Every week around 18 million customers visit a Post office branch for postal, government, financial and telecoms services.
The Post Office is a growing commercial business, with a social role. Having separated from Royal Mail in April last year the Post Office now wants to define its public purpose to inform its vision for a sustainable future. It is not being privatised.
The Post Office established a Stakeholder Forum in October 2012 comprising stakeholders and experts from a range of organisations to begin defining its public purpose.
The Stakeholder Forum has listened to views from consumer groups, staff and sub-postmasters in addition to hearing from people with experience of organisations which exist to provide services to communities and society as a whole.
The Forum is now starting a comprehensive engagement and research exercise to get the views of the public and wider stakeholder groups, before reporting its findings to the Post Office Board.
There will be a number of opportunities for people to get involved during the next 3 months. The exercise will involve both qualitative and quantitative research, using interviews, questionnaires, focus groups and surveys to ensure a broad and considered range of opinions.
The Stakeholder Forum is made up of members from the following organisations:
- Post Office Ltd
- National Federation of Sub Postmasters
- CWU
- Unite
- Shareholders Executive, Dept. for Business, Innovation and Skills
- Consumer Futures
- Age UK
- BBC Trust
- Mutuo
- Citizens Advice Bureau
- British Youth Council
Contact - Ruth Barker
Categories
About the Post Office
The Post Office (Post Office Limited) has an unrivalled national network of over 11,500 branches across the UK, more than all the high street banks combined, and sits at the heart of communities in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. The Post Office has made a commitment to maintaining its network of branches at its current size and reach. It provides around 170 different products and services spanning financial services including savings, insurance, loans, mortgages and credit cards; Government services; telephony; foreign currency; travel insurance and mail services.
The Post Office serves over 17 million customers a week and a third of small businesses. Some 99.7% of the total population live within three miles of a post office and over 97% live with one mile of a post office. For many rural communities, the post office is the only retail outlet. Post Offices branches remain highly valued and trusted, and are the focal point of many communities. For more information, visit http://www.postoffice.co.uk/.
Please note the Press Office team can only deal with enquiries from the media. Unfortunately they do not have access to customer information so can not help with customer enquiries.
If you have an enquiry regarding any Post Office product or service please visit postoffice.co.uk or call 0845Local call rates apply. Call costs may vary depending on your service provider. Calls may be monitored or recorded for training and compliance purposes. 611 2970.
