Building a viable network – Postcomm’s fourth annual report on the network of post offices 2003-2004

Chapter 1 Network overview
1/ Introduction 8
2/ Post Office Ltd finances 8
3/ Post Office Ltd efficiencies 9
4/ Directly Managed Branches 11
5/ Direct Payment Programme &
the Post Office Card Account 12
6/ Opportunities from competition in postal services 19
7/ Innovations from abroad 20
Chapter 2 Banking and new products
1/ Introduction 26
2/ Banking 26
3/ Update on new Financial Products 30
4/ Advertising the network 31
5/ Innovation and other new products 31
Chapter 3 Urban Network
1/ Introduction 40
2/ The Urban Reinvention Programme 40
3/ Support fund for urban deprived Post Offices 47
4/ Other grants and schemes for the urban network 50
5/ Supermarkets and convenience stores 53
6/ Studies by others on the urban network 54
Chapter 4 Rural Network
1/ Introduction 60
2/ Funding the rural network to 2006 60
3/ Other Rural Funding 61
4/ Closures 62
5/ Rural Research 63
6/ Rural Transfer Advisers & Community Action 65
7/ Pilot Projects & alternatives to ‘traditional’
Post Offices 67
8/ Devolved Administrations 69
9/ Future of the rural network 70
Chapter 5 Network Change
1/ Introduction 76
2/ Network change 78
3/ Post Office market 80
4/ Subpostmasters resigning 82
5/ Subpostmaster current and future issues 85
6/ Customer impact 88
7/ Re-opening of Post Office branches 90
8/ The Regional Picture 92
Annex A
Recommendations in last year’s report 95
Annex B
Postcomm’s recommendations on the future
of the rural network 97
Annex C
Statement by the Secretary of State for Trade
and Industry, September 2004 99
P:LibraryPostalPostComm Formal DocumentsPO Network AnnRep 04.pdf