Post Office - Crown Office Network: Franchising

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Letter to Branches




No: 719/14
Ref: 144
Date: 11th November 2014


TO: ALL BRANCHES WITH POSTAL MEMBERS

Dear Colleague

Post Office - Crown Office Network: Franchising

Branches will be aware that the Post Office on 7th February 2013 announced that 70 Crowns out of a then network of 373 would be franchised to a private operation. At the time this was shocking news as this impacted upon circa 800 of our members.

Some 21 months later less than 50% of the Crowns have actually been franchised with the majority of our members affected either having taken a Settlement Agreement with a financial package or redeploying elsewhere within the Post Office. A handful of members have seen fit to voluntarily TUPE over to the new operator.

The exact number franchised is 31 Crowns with a big proportion of these going to WH Smith and the remainder going to small independent operators. There are, however, another 6 Crowns where the franchise partner has been announced although the so-called public consultation is still being undertaken.

Essentially the public consultation is virtually meaningless with all franchises going ahead despite the significant objections of politicians and the wider general public. The only exceptions have been Melksham and Whitstable Crowns where something untoward came to the notice of the Post Office after the announcement of a franchise partner. So it is anticipated that the 6 currently going through the public consultation will become franchise Post Offices next year making 37 in total.

Turning to the remaining 33 Crowns that have effectively been in limbo for the last 21 months, the Post Office has now advised the Union of a number of developments, some of which will be welcomed.

Firstly, the good news is that 12 Crowns listed below have been removed from the franchising list and will continue to operate as Crown Post Offices. After all this time, this is obviously very good news although our members have gone through an exceptionally long period of uncertainty over the last 21 months where basically their lives have been put on hold whilst waiting for the Post Office to find a franchise partner. Some of these members will have been planning for a life after the Post Office so the announcement to retain these Crowns will leave some members with mixed feelings. This is very unfortunate; however the blame for this situation lies entirely with the Post Office.

Breck Road
Llangefni
Morriston
Raynes Park
East Dulwich
Matlock
Old Swan
Stornoway
Holywell

Melksham

Port Talbot

Willenhall


Secondly, the Post Office has also announced that a further 17 Crowns listed below will remain on the franchising list whilst they continue to look for a suitable partner. Obviously we are unaware of the state of any potential negotiation so it is conceivable that partners may have already been identified but negotiations are yet to be finalised.

I suppose the fact that the Post Office has updated our members to a certain degree will be seen as a small comfort. Nonetheless the members in these 17 Crowns will continue to remain in limbo whilst the Post Office continues their search to find suitable franchise partners.

Alloa
Cumbernauld
Great Greenford
Margate
Antrim
Didsbury Village
Holyhead
Rhyl
Balham
East Kilbride
Kirkby
Rye Lane
Crossgates
Gorton
Laindon
Salford



Whitstable

Our strong preference would have been for the Post Office to have completely abandoned its franchising plans and told the members in all the outstanding Crowns that their jobs were safe. Indeed the Post Office should have made this decision for all 29 Crowns rather than narrowing the list of retained Crowns down to just 12. Furthermore it would have been more constructive of the Post Office to have instead engaged in a sensible dialogue with this Union to create a more efficient Crown Network inclusive of not just the 12 Crowns that have been reprieved but also the other 17 that seemingly 21 months into this exercise still don't have a franchise partner.

Lastly, the Post Office has also announced today that they have a franchise partner in place for 4 Crowns which will be franchised next year. These 4 Crowns are as follows. 

Macclesfield
WH Smith
Neath
WH Smith
Redcar
WH Smith
Whitehaven
WH Smith

In summary, of the current 33 Crowns that have not been franchised or not had a franchise partner announced, the following is happening:

12 have been reprieved and will remain as Crown Offices
17 will remain on the franchise list whilst the Post Office continues to secure suitable partners
4 have been told today that a franchise partner has been secured

I can well imagine that the various announcements linked to the developments described above will come as a mixture of good news and bad for our members who, I repeat, have been in limbo for the last 21 months. The Post Office has created this environment of uncertainty so it is to be welcomed that we now at least have some news. I would though urge the Post Office to quickly announce retaining any of the 17 who remain in limbo if it becomes evident that a suitable partner is not available. It is in nobody's interest to prolong the agony by further inertia.

Our Territory and Area Representatives have been advised of these developments and are providing the necessary support and guidance to our members in the various Crowns impacted by the different circumstances.

Further developments will be reported as appropriate.

Yours sincerely


Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary