Tourism link-up for Royal Mail

Royal Mail is considering merging some of Scotland’s rural post offices with local tourist information centres as part of its efforts to keep the struggling network afloat.

The postal operator, which formally ditched its Consignia moniker on Monday, has held preliminary talks with Visit-Scotland about the proposals.

Although still at an early stage, the move might help stave off closure for scores of rural post offices should it get the green light, providing a new source of income for Scotland’s cash-strapped postmasters.

News of the plans follows this week’s revelation that Royal Mail is poised to start selling mortgages through the post office network.

A Royal Mail spokeswoman added: “We’ve had some preliminary discussions with VisitScotland about this. It’s one of several plans that we are discussing as part of our efforts to deliver diversity for the network.”

Royal Mail is expected to reveal that it is still firmly mired in the red when it posts interim figures next week.

But fears are mounting for the future of Scotland’s rural post office network, in particular, because of price curb proposals planned by regulator PostComm.

Post offices across the UK are also set to be hit hard by government plans to start paying all benefits electronically by April next year. Roughly 40 per cent of the average sub-postmaster’s income is generated from dealing with benefit payments.

A link-up with VisitScotland might see rural post offices take on tourist information functions as a means of subsidising their income. Tourist information offices may also double as the local post office in areas where it is difficult to recruit a new sub-postmaster.

Scottish spokesman for the National Federation of Sub-postmasters Mervyn Jones said: “It seems a great idea. Obviously, we’d have to find out what the income-generating element is, but it seems good in principal.”

Jones, the sub-postmaster in Hawick, added: “We have to look at all ways to try to replace the income which will be lost when the benefits payment system goes completely electronic.”

VisitScotland chief executive Peter Lederer is a non-executive director on Royal Mail group’s Scottish interest board.

Although the proposals would cut costs for both organisations, Royal Mail sources said the move was unlikely to lead to swathes of redundancies across the rural post office network.

Many sub-postmasters in rural areas are nearing retirement age with Royal Mail finding it increasingly difficult to find people willing to take on the loss-making businesses.

Although the Royal Mail delivery business is expected to turn itself around within three years, despite increased competition in the marketplace, the Post Office counters operation is expected to face more serious problems.

It is understood that Royal Mail chairman Allan Leighton may demand government subsidies to avoid closing more post offices.