Overview
- Better Retailing’s analysis of Post Office consultation documents, reported on Wednesday, found at least 52 Post Office branches inside Morrisons Daily shops are expected to close by early October.
- Morrisons has decided to shut around 100 underperforming Morrisons Daily convenience stores and is consulting staff while saying many of the affected shops had been loss-making for years.
- The Post Office says it is seeking replacement retail partners for the affected locations and has listed vacancies for potential operators with some expressions of interest already received.
- Analysts and reporting warn the combined wave of closures could push the national network close to the government’s statutory minimum of 11,500 branches, raising legal and access concerns.
- Local customers and small businesses face losing nearby postal, banking and parcel services, and MPs are in talks with Morrisons and the Post Office as redeployments and job outcomes remain uncertain.