Counter attack

The urban postmaster

PAUL Abbott has run Micklegate Post Office in York for five years. He cheerily greets customers in the morning queue by name.

"You wouldn't run a post office if you didn't like people," he says.

"If you love money, you would hate the job. If you love holidays, you would hate the job. But if you get satisfaction from meeting people, it's a fantastic job."

It's also a changing job.

The Government's mission to modernise saw around five million benefits and pensions switched over to electronic payment last year. Post offices lost out as cashing these benefits once brought in 40 per cent of their income.

Meanwhile, a national closure programme started to bite. The industry accepted there were too many urban post offices to be commercially viable, and the idea was to rationalise the system by compensating postmasters who wanted to get out.

Effectively it was a voluntary redundancy programme.

In theory, business would transfer from unprofitable branches that shut down to those that remained, improving their prospects.

But Paul believes this programme has been bad for York. Including the 2003 closures of Osbaldwick and Gerard Avenue post offices, nine have gone in the city.

"I don't think any of them should have been shut. It's wrong for people to lose the focal point of their community."

He agreed with the network closure programme in principle. "In practice it's been a total disappointment and meant frustration for everyone. A lot of people are really cut up about the way things have gone."

He points out that "all the closures have been in the south of the city. They are not evenly spaced out."

On Friday, we reported York MP Hugh Bayley's campaign to give Postwatch power to compel the Post Office to provide branches in urban communities. But Paul blames New Labour for creating the mess.

"My gut reaction is we are in a strong position. But my head tells me that people like Hugh Bayley and Tony Blair have sold us down the river."

Paul would also like to be granted freedom by the Post Office Ltd to offer extra services in the Micklegate branch, like a bureau de change, passports or motor vehicle licensing. "I don't think any post offices should be excluded from any Post Office service."

The village postmaster

GLYNN Drummond has run Bishopthorpe Post Office from his home for four years: "It's really my dining room."

He agreed with the modernisation of benefits payments, but not with the way it happened.

"The most hurtful thing for me was the way the Government were quite vociferous and quite nasty with old age pensioners, forcing them into taking a bank account.

"I have had people tell me how they were verbally forced to give over their bank account details to somebody from the pensions department. It's disgraceful."

He, too, is critical of York's MP.

"The person who has irritated us the most is Hugh Bayley. He almost stood on the barriers at the Bishopthorpe Road one, wanting the post office to stay open - when he was part of the Government that created this situation."

Sub-postmasters receive an annual payment from Post Office Ltd determined on their annual turnover, plus commission on all sales.

Now pensions and benefits are paid straight into personal bank accounts, the postmaster not only loses that business, they lose customers who would have bought other services and products, the branch's turnover will go down, the commission goes down with it, and the fixed fee will be reduced.

"There's not a future for standalone post offices," said Glynn.

"It's got to have another business attached, because we don't earn enough money from the post office."

The Federation rep

Geoff Simpson runs Helmsley Post Office and is an executive officer for the National Federation of SubPostmasters. He has been in the business for 32 years.

He says the closure programme will prove good for customers and his members. "It would be inevitable that post offices would run into decline and close of their own accord as they would not be profitable or viable.

"Those that wanted to go have been allowed to go. Eighty per cent of the business is transferred into the post offices left so the sub-postmasters can earn a living.

"They will have a brighter, viable future."

The Federation has produced its own manifesto, which says the Government must:

Commit to an "ongoing payment for the social service" provide by urban and rural post offices

Ensure banks enable their customers to access their bank accounts at post offices

Simplify the post office card account

Train subpostmasters to offer information and advice on Government issues.

Updated: 09:09 Monday, March 21, 2005