26 November 2012
PROPOSED NEW LOCATION FOR BAYHEAD POST OFFICE, STORNOWAY
Opening hours extended by 39 hours a week
- Post Office services available seven days a week
- Modern open-plan retail environment
- Full range of Post Office® services available
The Post Office is proposing to move Bayhead Post Office from its current location to create a modern open-plan branch with extended opening hours for customers.
The proposed new location for the branch is Engebret Ltd Filling Station, Sandwick Road, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, HS1 2SL. This is 1,200 metres from its current site at Matheson Road, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, HS1 2LB.
The Post Office is inviting customers and interested parties to give their comments on the move in a six-week public consultation.
The move is part of major modernisation programme across the Post Office network designed to make it easier for customers to do business, through longer opening hours and modern open plan environments.
Post Office Regional Network Manager for Scotland Sue Richardson said: “We understand how important having a Post Office is to residents in Stornoway and we are confident that this new modern branch will meet the needs of the local community and secure services for the future.
She added: “The proposed changes to the branch are part of a three-year investment programme, the largest in the history of the Post Office, that will see around 6000 branches (about half the Post Office network) converting to new-style branches. The investment marks a commitment to no more branch closure programmes.”
The new Bayhead Post Office would have a mixture of four open plan and traditional screened counter positions – a new concept for delivering Post Office services with Post Office products and services available alongside retail transactions during shop opening hours.
Opening hours at the proposed new location would be 07:00 – 22:00 Monday to Saturday and 11:00 – 15:00 on Sunday, offering customers an extra 39 hours a week to access Post Office products and services.
The Post Office, now independent of Royal Mail, is the largest retail network in the UK, with over 11,500 branches. It is also one of the fastest growing financial services companies and is developing its online and telephony services.
During the public consultation Post Office Ltd welcomes feedback on any issues customers would like considered before a final decision is taken on this proposal. The consultation will close on 11 January 2013. Submissions can be made during the consultation by Freepost YOUR COMMENTS to Post Office Ltd, via email to [email protected], via the Customer Helpline: 08457 22 33 44 or Textphone 08457 22 33 55.
Didn’t the Post Office say a couple of years ago that ‘No one wil be more than a mile from a Post Office’? What happened to that promise? With the rising cost of postage…they are going to price themselves into extinction, and moves like this won’t help.
Is the “main” Post Office on Francis Street also being “merged” into this new all singing all dancing and all opening alternative?
Gadaha,
The Crown Office on Francis St. has not been included in these plans.
Tim Durbin
Thanks to Mr Durbin Stornoway Post Office Manager for this clarification.
P.S. Thought at first Iain X’s clock was wonky – 4:27am???? Even Post Office Managers should be in the land of nod at this time……
Mr Durbin has great faith in his employers. Will the PO really maintain 2 offices so close together?
Jessie,
I suppose the honest answer is that I don’t know. We hope that our regular customers will continue to visit us, and we may pick up a few more customers from the non-driving population.
The new premises is only 0.1 mile closer than the Bayhead location and will be less convenient for some customers.
If you’re concerned about the possibility of the sustainability of the Crown Office in light of these developments, you could always voice these concerns through the consultation process, which runs until 11 January.
Contact the council or the Post Office at [email protected], citing the relocation of the Bayhead Post Office.
All the best,
Tim
The existing site @Bayhead serves the North, Northeast & Northwest of the town. Moving to Sandwick Rd will reduce the service to those areas & cover an area already served by The Francis Street Office. As Mari says people should be no more than a mile from a Post Office. as for opening 7 days a week I don’t think that would be any use unless 7 day collections were reintroduced.