Royal Mail criticised over holiday closures

Postwatch, the consumer watchdog for mail services, has hit out at Royal Mail for failing to increase its consultation time for post office closures to take into account the Christmas holidays.

Ordinarily, consumers and local authorities have six weeks to discuss the impact of a local closure and then respond. However, Postwatch argues that, by putting out consultations during the Christmas period, Royal Mail is reducing the time they are given. “The closure of post offices is never going to be popular,” said Peter Carr, chairman of Postwatch. “But the process, if properly managed, can at least be seen to be fair and caring. “If they continue to push through closures without showing they are listening to their customers, they risk their reputation and brand. This is just at the time when they want to enter the financial services market. My new year’s wish is that they show a little more in joined-up thinking.” The Royal Mail embarked on a programme of closing post offices in urban areas, pledging that most urban customers would continue to have a post office within a mile of where they live. The organisation said yesterday that it had originally extended the consultation period on closures from four weeks to six at the request of Postwatch. “Our priority is to get the post office network a long-term sustainable future,” a spokesman said. “Saving the network is the biggest priority and we really need to push on with this programme. The network lost pounds 194m in the last financial year.” Royal Mail, which has just managed to post its first profit for several years, announced the urban post office branch closure plan last year. The organisation is shutting a third of its urban branches – around 3,000 of them – because the business cannot afford to keep all of its outlets open. Sub-postmasters, who operate the branches, are being offered compensation by Royal Mail in a deal worth pounds 210m in total. However, this includes cash to help modernise branches.