Hyde Post Office among eight to close in Greater Manchester

Hyde Post Office has been named among more than 100 due for the axe.

Eight Post Office branches in Greater Manchester are among more than 100 across the country are at risk of closure.

Bosses are looking to offload 115 directly-owned Crown Post Offices in the 11,500 branch network, which could see them transferred to retail partners or postmasters, or potentially closed.

Of the affected branches, eight are in Greater Manchester. They are in Barnes Green, Harpurhey, north Manchester; Didsbury village, Manchester; Eccles, Salford; Hyde, Tameside; Leight, Wigan; Prestwich, Bury; Stockport town centre; and Salford precinct.

“Everywhere else is shutting up around here, it’s not a surprise they’ve listed Hyde,” Ray Clark, who uses the post office to pay all his bills, said. He noted that ‘loads of people’ use his local branch.

The changes at Crown Post Office-owned branches are part of a wider shake-up, which would include the loss of hundreds of roles across the business. According to the company’s chairman Nigel Railton, the plans will secure a “new deal for postmasters”.

The reshuffle would increase postmaster’s share of revenue and give them a greater say in the running of the business, as the company looks to move on from the Horizon IT scandal that saw hundreds of sub postmasters wrongfully convicted.

The plans, which are subject to government funding, would see average branch pay doubled by 2030, with £120 million in additional pay by the end of the first year.

A spokesperson added that the business is ‘considering a range of options to reduce our central costs’ which included ‘considering the future of our remaining Directly Managed Branches, which are loss-making’. They also claimed to be ‘in dialogue with the unions’ and that ‘no announcement’ regarding the locations of closures had been made.

The Post Office insisted that it aims to franchise the branches or transfer ownership to other parties, such as its network of retail partners.

Retailers such as WH Smith, Tesco, Morrisons and the Co-Op operate around 2,000 Post Offices across the country. The rest of the network – about 9,000 Post Offices – are operated by independent postmasters.

But the public outcry against the possible changes has been immense.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) union has also called on the Post Office to halt the plans and on the government to intervene.

CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: “For the company to announce the closure of hundreds of Post Offices hot on the heels of the Horizon scandal is as tone deaf as it is immoral..

“CWU members are victims of the Horizon scandal – and for them to now fear for their jobs ahead of Christmas is yet another cruel attack.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade said the Government is already ‘in active discussion’ with Nigel Railton regarding the future of the Post Office Network.