Tag: UK

Consultation Starts On Changes To Post Office Network – Post Office Ltd announces plans for South and West Wales

Posted by | Jun 3, 2008 | |

Post Office Ltd today (Tuesday, 03 June 2008) opened a six-week local public consultation on its Area Plan for the South and West Wales area. In line with the criteria and factors set by the UK Government in its Response Document (DTI The Post Office Network, Government response to public consultation May 2007 – www.berr.gov.uk/consultants), the Area Plan proposes future provision of Post Office services through a network of 291 Post Office® branches across the South and West Wales area, including establishing 19 new innovative Outreach service points, but to close 40 existing branches.

Under the proposals 99.4% of the area’s population will either see no change, or will remain within one mile (by road distance) of an alternative branch.

The local public consultation on the Area Plan Proposal for South and West Wales will commence on 03 June 2008.

The closing date for feedback in respect of the local public consultation is therefore 14 July 2008.

South and West Wales is diverse in nature from the urban, predominantly industrial areas of Bridgend, Port Talbot, Swansea and Neath to the rural, agricultural heartlands of Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. 53% of the population live in rural communities and 47% in urban areas. In order to meet the Government’s access criteria and avoid undue hardship, Post Office Ltd is proposing a future Network in the region comprising 87 branches in urban towns and cities and 204 branches in rural areas.

The defined as deprived have been carefully considered in this Area Plan Proposal, reflecting the specific national criteria set by the Government to give greater safeguards on the accessibility of branches in these communities. Some 31.4% of the area’s total population live in deprived communities, 18.8% of them in urban areas and 12.6% in rural areas. This proposal for future network provision in South and West Wales provides for 42 branches being located in urban deprived communities.

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Decisions on Northern Ireland Post Office® branches

Posted by | Jun 3, 2008 | |

Post Office Ltd today (Tuesday, 3 June) announced decisions on the future of Post Office® branches across Northern Ireland following a six-week public consultation that ended on 12 May 2008.

Post Office services will be provided through a network of 496 branches, which supports the national accessibility criteria introduced by the Government and ensures that over 94.1% of the population in Northern Ireland will see no change.

The plan confirmed today means that 38 branches will close in Northern Ireland with the first closures scheduled to take place in July 2008. These branches were detailed in the Area Plan proposal published on 1 April 2008. Post Office Limited is also confirming the creation of 53 outreach Post Office services.

Four branches originally proposed for closure – Parkhall Post Office, Strathroy Post, The Throne Post Office and Attical Post Office, which was originally proposed for replacement by an outreach service, – will now remain open following a review of the issues raised during public consultation.

During the six-week public consultation, Post Office Limited received approximately 4,500 responses and attended 97 meetings with customers and their representatives to understand customers’ concerns and to ensure that all the information provided by customers formed part of the final decision regarding each affected branch.

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Western Union Appoints Stewart A. Stockdale EVP and President-US and Canada

Posted by | Jun 3, 2008 | |

The Western Union Company, a world leader in money transfer services, today announced the appointment of Stewart A. Stockdale to Executive Vice President and President of the United States and Canada region. Stockdale, 46, will join Western Union in late June.

“We are delighted to welcome Stewart to our leadership team,” said Christina A. Gold, president and chief executive officer of The Western Union Company. “Stewart has distinguished himself as an entrepreneurial business leader with significant financial services experience and a wealth of consumer marketing knowledge. His business acumen will be a tremendous asset to Western Union as we further develop our consumer franchise in the U.S. and Canada,” added Gold.

“This is an exciting time to join The Western Union Company,” said Stockdale. “The brand has a rich heritage, which will serve as a catalyst for future innovation and growth in the financial services arena.”

Since 2002, Stockdale served as chief marketing officer of Simon Property Group and president of Simon Brand Ventures. Simon Property Group is the largest publicly held real estate company in the U.S. He also served as executive vice president and chief marketing officer of Conseco, Inc., a leading provider of financial security for life, health, retirement and lending products and held global marketing and product development roles with MasterCard International and American Express. He began his career in brand management with Procter & Gamble.

David G. Barnes, 46, who has been providing leadership and direction on a variety of important initiatives including the U.S. and Canada business, will now be focused on the corporation’s overall strategy and accelerating Western Union’s growth initiatives. As the chief strategy officer, Barnes will drive M&A activity and strategic alliances for the company. He will also have responsibility for Western Union’s bank strategy. He will continue report to Gold.

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After the Network Change Programme the future of the post office network

Posted by | Jun 2, 2008 | |

Select Committee Report Published

The NFSP has welcomed today’s publication of the report by the House of Commons Business and Enterprise Committee on Network Change.

The report concludes that it is vital that the Post Office win the contract for the successor to the Post Office Card Account (POCA2) and that the Independent Review of Mail Services and Postcomm must take full account of the effects of reform to mail services on the post office network.

It also calls for a renewed commitment by the Post Office that it will not allow the network to shrink below the 11,500 outlets that will remain after the Network Change Programme has been completed.

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NFSP Welcomes Report on the future of the Post Office Network

Posted by | Jun 2, 2008 | |

The NFSP today (June 2) welcomes a report from the Business & Enterprise Committee which acknowledges the threat to the post office network if subpostmasters lose the right to handle state pensions and benefits.

The Committee’s report on the future of the post office network backs claims by the NFSP that the loss of the Post Office Card Account (POCA) would have a devastating impact.

The Federation has warned that up to 3,000 post offices could be forced to shut if the contract to run the successor to the current POCA contract is lost. A decision on who has won the POCA 2 tender is expected this summer.

Of the 24 million visits made to post offices every week, 6.5 million are made by POCA customers, highlighting the importance of the POCA contract to subpostmasters.

Commenting on the report, George Thomson, General Secretary of the NFSP, said: “Today’s report strengthens our warning that the Government must act to protect post offices left in the network following Network Change by awarding the POCA 2 contract to Post Office Ltd.

“As the Committee’s report accepts, failure to do so would have a devastating effect on the viability and sustainability of the network.”

The NFSP today also backs concerns raised by the Committee on the threat to the post office network from proposals to break up Royal Mail Group.

With income from Royal Mail transactions making up the largest part of subpostmasters pay, the Federation is concerned about the effect this break up would have on this vital source of income.

Mr Thomson said: “It beggars belief that separate reviews of the industry by Postcomm and the Government’s independent review panel have yet to assess the post office network and its integral role within Royal Mail Group, yet both are nonetheless considering separating the Post Office from Royal Mail.

“Under current circumstances, the NFSP believes it is inconceivable that Post Office Ltd could be withdrawn from Royal Mail Group.”

In addition, the NFSP supports the Committee’s demand for the need to safeguard against further post office closures after Network Change.

The Federation has reluctantly accepted the closure of up to 2,500 post offices under Network Change in order to achieve a viable network, but states that there should be no further closures.

Mr Thomson said: “The Government and Post Office Ltd must now focus their efforts to deliver the investment and new products and services required to make sure that the new post office network is given the best possible chance to survive and thrive in the future. With a population of 60 million people, the Federation believes it must be possible to support 11,500 post offices in the UK.”

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