Deutsche Post to open 1500 new branches in Germany

Deutsche Post, the German postal service operator, has sent a letter to Germany’s minister of economy and all regional prime ministers in which it outlines plans to open up to 1,500 new outlets in order to improve services in villages and small towns. The group intends to start its expansion programme next year, but will not increase its total number of outlets of around 13,000. Deutsche Post had announced a few days ago that it would cancel its contracts with up to 2,000 postal agencies in rural areas. The group has also reduced its number of letter boxes drastically. Deutsche Post, which is legally obliged to operate 12,000 outlets, is also planning to introduce a series of voluntary measures in order to improve its services for customers. The group is committing itself, for instance, to operating 108,000 letter boxes across Germany and to altering the opening hours of branches according to the local demand. Furthermore, branch closures will in the future be announced three months in advance.