Post Office branches out in central London to meet growing demand for services

• New branch the first of 25 set to open in central London over next 12 months
• Open 24 hours as part of a new convenience store, bringing flexibility to customers for mails, banking and online shopping
• Expanding in central London to supplement existing Post Office branches and serve growing customer demand
• New locations and longer hours in current network set to make online shopping collections and returns even easier
• New outlets to encourage new customers to use Post Office services and offer greater flexibility to people collecting and returning online shopping
• Over 7500 branches transformed since 2012, thousands of branches now open for longer and more than 4000 branches open seven days a week

The opening of a brand new Post Office on New Oxford Street in London has marked a new milestone for the Post Office in the UK’s capital.

Dozens of newly modernised branches are already open for longer in the city, and the new service - which is the only one in the city open for 24 hours, 7 days a week – joins these, along with around 25 new Post Offices which will open in central London over the next 12 months. This will boost the number of Post Offices in the area from around 70 to almost 100 branches.

These openings are part of a wider strategy to ensure that Post Office services are available where our customers need and want them – and with millions of commuters visiting London every day, and the city’s population growing at more than twice the rate of other parts of the UK[1], it’s clear that the number of Post Offices needs to increase too, to give customers access to the best possible service. Through launching these new outlets, the Post Office aims to encourage new customers to use its services by providing even greater convenience and choice as to where, when and how people access Post Office services.

The new branch, located on 71 New Oxford Street, is just moments away from Tottenham Court Road tube station, and joins nearby branches including High Holborn, Southampton Row branches and Great Portland Street to help serve London’s busy West End. Around a further 25 openings are planned in London over the next year, including in branches in Islington and Kings Cross.

London is one of the busiest hotspots in the UK for online shoppers[2], with people across London and the South East accounting for over a third of online purchases[3]. It’s no surprise then that the UK’s Home Shopping market continues to develop; click and collect purchases to third party locations such as Post Offices are growing by 18 per cent year on year[4]. At the same time, the Post Office is one of the most trusted locations for people to collect and return their online shopping[5]. All these factors combined make it essential that branches are in the right location to meet this developing demand, and help consumers and businesses take advantage of the convenience and choice that shopping online brings.

In addition, many Post Office branches offer Drop & Go, a fast drop mail service which enables small businesses to send online orders and samples to their customers across the country and around the globe, in a speedy and convenient way. The Post Office is also the UK’s number one provider for travel money with the new branches set to offer a range of on demand and pre-order currencies.

Another vital service offered by Post Offices in London – and indeed, across the UK – is every day banking for personal and business customers of all the major UK banks, including cash withdrawals and deposit services. Easy access to cash is a lifeblood for highstreets of all sizes across the UK, and where people can withdraw cash, they tend spend it locally too.

Since 2012 the Post Office has been modernising its network, transforming over 7500 into new modern outlets offering longer hours, over 4000 are open 7 days a week. As result of this investment its network of 11,600 of branches is now at its most stable for decade – and with more branches than all the main UK banks combined, Post Offices are proving particularly vital where banks no longer exist.

Debbie Smith, new Chief Executive of Retail at the Post Office, said:

“What we are doing here in London is part of a wider strategy to ensure we have Post Office services in the right location to best serve our customers’ evolving needs.

“Central London’s fast-growing urban population and commuter presence means we need to extend our services through longer hours and more branches. In one of the busiest locations for online shopping collection and returns in the UK, our customers want flexible, convenient access not only to mails services, but also to things like every day banking and travel money.

“By teaming up with successful retailers with a vibrant retail offer, we’re able to create hubs of essential services that are one stop shops for our customers. By responding in this way to customer demands, and adapting to meet their needs, we’re building a Post Office network not just for today, but for tomorrow too.”

The Post Office service on New Oxford Street, is based inside The Convenience Store, and is being run by Mr Amarjit Singh Rakhra.

Mr Rakhra said:

“I’m very pleased to be offering Post Office services from my store – this is an opportunity to provide my customers with a real range of services at a time that suits them, whether that’s early in the morning or late at night.

“From commuters to tourists, the branch is well placed to serve a variety of people: they can come in to pick up their groceries, as well as send postcards to family and friends, pick up their travel money and collect or return their online shopping.”

ENDS

[1]Office for National Statistics – Population estimates for UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: mid-2016.

[2]https://www.pcapredict.com/ecommerce-trends/uk-heatmap-live/

[3] IMRG Delivery Index Report – November 2017

[4] IMRG Delivery Index Report – November 2017

[5] Royal Mail’s Delivery Matter Report UK 2017