New Ferry post office owner on the brink of calling it a day

[TrueBlueTerrier]

https://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/1956 ... lling-day/

Another Wirral town could lose the vital services of its post office unless a viable solution can be found in the next six months.

Vishal Jain has been running New Ferry's post office since November 2016, but falling revenues and unexpected extra overheads are making his business unsustainable.

And unless he can be given the financial support to move the business to smaller premises, he will walk away from the operation altogether when his current lease ends in March 2022.

Vishal told the Globe: "Since the New Ferry explosion, business has gone down and it has been going down every year since.


"I started a community store here as well. I filled the store with stock twice but eventually everything expired so I have left it empty now.

"I had an alcohol license as well but nobody bought it from here. People like to take out their money here and then go to another shop. It was a lot of loss so I decided not to do it anymore."

When the Globe visited Vishal, a steady stream of customers frequented his post office, but contractual changes in the cut he receives for the essential services he provides, such as handling letters and parcels, combined with an ever-increasing push to provide his other services online - such as passport renewals - have squeezed his margins to breaking point.

Another challenge is a clause in the rental contract for his premises that means he has to pay a proportion of any maintenance charges the building incurs.

When neighbouring Royal Mail had a new roof installed at a cost of £120,000, Vishal became saddled with a bill for 12% of it - a cost he admits that he simply cannot afford to pay back.

Vishal says that his only hope of the business surviving is to move it to much smaller premises, but further financial obstacles lie in his way.

He said: "The Post Office is saying, if you want to move it you need to spend £30,000 and I think that was for the counters only.

"I don't have the funding to move premises. You've seen Birkenhead and Neston post office close down. It's the same thing. No one wants to stay here with low income and high expenses.

"I am not hopeful of getting any financial support, so I'm thinking 99% that I am leaving this post office in March 2022."