Mystery bid to run new post office in Reading town centre

[TrueBlueTerrier]

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The Post Office is in discussions which may lead to a new branch in the town centre to replace the one about to close down in the Civic Centre.

Leader of Reading Borough Council Councillor Jo Lovelock revealed the news of the mystery applicant, whose identity has not been revealed, at the full council meeting on Tuesday night.

The council was discussing a petition with more than 1,500 signatures expressing alarm at the closure of the Civic Centre post office when the council moves in the autumn to new offices in Plaza West in Bridge Street.

The authority employed the staff and subsidised the post office branch. The cost of the subsidy was expected to rise to £85,320 a year.

Cllr Lovelock said the council could not be expected to subsidise a commercial organisation in times of financial constraint.

In a motion which the council agreed, she said: “It is with much regret that the council has had to consider a proposal to discontinue the post office service currently offered in the Civic Centre.

“The council would need to continue to subsidise the service for the foreseeable future as no alternative proposal has come forward to enable the post office service to break even.

“The value of retaining post office provision in the town centre is acknowledged and the council has been working closely with Post Office Ltd to achieve this.

“The council welcomes the news that a serious candidate has come forward and is working through the application process with Post Office Limited.”

She said the council expects to hear whether the applicant has been accepted by mid-July.

It was agreed if the applicant was successful, the council would work closely with Post Office Ltd “to ensure a smooth transition to the new operator to provide a post office in the vicinity of the existing post office and enable the operation from the council’s civic offices to be closed”.

Councillors agreed that “in the unlikely event that the current applicant to provide a new post office should not be successful then the head of customer services be authorised to serve the official termination notice to the post office on August 1, 2014, to allow the council to leave the network and close the post office”.

The post office’s staff were in the council chamber to hear the debate on Tuesday.

Cllr Lovelock said the council would try to find the staff alternative positions within the council “if at all possible” if they did not look to the post office for a career.

Leader of the Conservatives Cllr Jeanette Skeats said she regretted the closure but added: “We also acknowledge we can’t bear the burden of the cost. £85,000 is a lot of money.”

[subbie]

>>>The authority employed the staff and subsidised the post office branch. The cost of the subsidy was expected to rise to £85,320 a year.<<<

What a bunch of bloody hypocrites thousands of Postmasters subsidise the PO service every year because the Post Office suck all the revenue for central costs (read Directors bonuses) the first body to squawk their heads off if a Post Office closes is the Local Authority, now they have had a taste of what Postmasters have to put up with they are quick to cut and run.

Subbie