Stamp of approval for new post office
Apr 4 2008 by Chris Robinson, The Journal
A CITY centre post office built into a high street store was hailed a success at its opening yesterday.
The former Eldon Square branch relocated into the first floor of WH Smith on Northumberland Street, Newcastle.
Relocation plans announced last year were originally met with controversy, with concerns raised about a lack of a post office at the busy Eldon Square shopping centre.
Both bosses and customers yesterday hailed the move a success during its first day of trading in the high street newsagents, creating more staffed counters and longer opening hours.
The move is seen as a way of saving money within the industry and will see around 70 similar joint-stores across the country.
Peter Mylchreest, programme manager for WH Smith Post Offices, said: “The Post Office has been losing £70m for a number of years. We simply couldn’t afford to invest in a network that was losing that amount of money. By going into this type of partnership we can maintain services in the city.
“One of the things that confuses customers is how we were going to get the post office upstairs and they didn’t realise how much space has been created.” The Journal arrived at the new-look branch around lunchtime yesterday where customers seemed pleased with the new layout and queues were relatively small.
However, customers must enter the ground floor of the store, take a lift, escalator or stairs to the first floor and then walk further along to the rear of the store where the new facility is located.
Pensioner Maureen Stott, 73, of Daisy Hill, Walkergate, Newcastle, said: “I went to the old post office first because I didn't realise it had moved. They had staff there and I was redirected to this new branch. It’s much more modern here and does not seem as busy.
“The only bad thing is that I think is it could be quite inconvenient for older people who might not be very fit to have to go upstairs to get to the post office.”
Cecilia Perkins, 79, of Walker, Newcastle, said: “I just came in today for a look because I always use the post office. I think the new branch is great, much better than the old one. The queues were terrible before.” The new branch employs 29 full and part-time staff, including a manager and two assistant managers.
WH Smith regional manager Ian Rowley said: “This move follows the successful relocation of post offices into WH Smith stores in 2006 and 2007, where customer feedback highlighted the benefits of the change, including shorter queues, longer opening hours and convenient location. At a time when many post offices are under threat of closure, the partnership between WH Smith and the Post Office safeguards the future of main Post Office services for the local community.”
