Post Office (United Kingdom)
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| State-owned limited company | |
| Industry | Postal service |
| Founded | 1986 |
| Headquarters | Post Office Ltd, Finsbury Dials, 20 Finsbury Street, London, EC2Y 9AQ |
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Area served
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United Kingdom |
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Key people
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Tim Parker (Chairman) Paula Vennells (Chief Executive) |
| Owner | HM Government |
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Number of employees
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7,798 |
| Parent | Postal Services Holding Company Limited |
| Website | www |
Post Office Ltd (Welsh: Swyddfa’r Post Cyf.; Scottish Gaelic: Oifis a' Phuist) is a retail post office company in the United Kingdom that provides a wide range of products including postage stamps and banking to the public through its nationwide network of post office branches. The company is owned by the British Government's Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, through Postal Services Holding Company Limited.
Post Office branches, along with the Royal Mail delivery service, were formerly part of the General Post Office and later the Post Office corporation. Post Office Counters Ltd was created as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Post Office corporation in 1986. After the Post Office corporation was renamed Royal Mail Group in 2001, Post Office Counters Ltd became Post Office Ltd.
Post Office Ltd has in recent years announced losses; a reported £102 million in 2006. This has raised many concerns in the media regarding Post Office Ltd's ability as a company to operate efficiently. Plans to cut the £150m-a-year subsidy for rural post offices led to the announcement that 2,500 local post offices were to be closed. This announcement resulted in a backlash from local communities that relied on the service.
In 2007, the government gave a £1.7 billion subsidy to Royal Mail Group so that it could turn a profit by 2011. This was to be used to invest across the whole network of Royal Mail, Post Office Ltd and Parcelforce. 85 Crown post offices were closed, 70 of which were sold to WHSmith. This followed a trial of six Post Office outlets in WHSmith stores. WHSmith was expected to make up to £2.5 million extra in annual profit. 2,500 sub-post offices closed between 2008 and 2009. Redundancy packages were provided from public funding (subpostmasters were paid over 20 months salary, roughly £65,000 each).
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