Managed Closure of Post Office Branches – Learning from the UK Experience

Increasingly, postal networks worldwide have experienced closures or are facing uncertainties in the future of post office branches as they become less frequently used. In this Postal Technology International article, NERA Consultants Leela Barham and Simon Maunder and Director John Dodgson review UK experience of a managed closure and investment program to deliver a sustainable configuration of branches. The authors recommend that struggling postal networks use a model similar to the UK’s Urban Reinvention Programme (URP), which managed closures of urban post office branches in 2002-2005. The URP offered the opportunity to continue to meet accessibility requirements set out by the UK regulator; minimize the impact on customers by providing information about alternative branches; and invest in the remaining branches to maximize business opportunities.