Post Office to promote all 108 directly-owned branches – is yours on the record?

On Apr 9, 2025

It says it will offload the branches to franchisees

Updated: 10:43, 9 April 2025

The Post Office is flogging 108 crown branches which are currently directly owned and run by the company.

It will hand over the 108 remaining directly-owned branches to franchisees by the autumn.

Around 1,000 staff working in these branches will be offered a choice to move to work for any new owner or take voluntary redundancy, the Post Office said.

Post Office chairman Nigel Railton said the 108 branches will either stay in the same location or be relocated nearby so customers continue to have access to the services.

He said moving to a fully franchised network was one element of enabling the Post Office to deliver a new deal for postmasters.

Railton said on Wednesday: ‘By franchising these branches, we are protecting access to our services for communities right across the UK and realising £40million worth of savings that will enable us to uplift postmasters’ remuneration by up to 10 per cent.’

Sell-off: The Post Office will hand over 108 directly-owned branches to franchisees

Reports suggest the Post Office has received interest from potential retail partners including Tesco and Ryman, as well as sub-postmasters, to take on the loss-making branches.

The Communication Workers Union called for the government to intervene and help examine alternative options.

CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: ‘The Post Office’s claim that these community services will be maintained by their failed franchising model is laughable to anyone who has seen their local Post Office services reduced to the back of a shop.

‘The sell-off of WH Smith last week shows just how fragile and ill-thought out this model is.

‘This is the full privatisation of the Post Office via the back door.’

Railton said: ‘Over the coming months, we will continue to work with our unions to ensure that we treat our staff working in these 108 branches with care and respect through this transition, consulting with them on proposed changes.

‘The 108 Post Offices will either stay in the same location where possible or be located close to the existing location, meaning customers will continue to have access to a full suite of products and services.’

The Post Office said it ‘remains committed’ to meeting the current requirement to have a minimum of 11,500 branches across the UK and to meet the six ‘access criteria’ set by the government.

It said it would work with franchise partners ‘with a clear track record of successfully running Post Office services or similar customer-focused retail to ensure communities in these 108 locations will continue to receive a high quality of service once their Directly Managed branch is franchised.’

In November, the Post Office announced that the future of its directly managed branch network was under review.

On Thursday, it said directly managed branches generated a loss of over £40million each year.

The Post Office faces numerous challenges, including competition from rival parcel operators and fewer people sending letters, with revenues for its branches being hit as a result.

The Post Office’s strategic shake-up, bosses claim, aims to put the business on a firmer financial footing, but it comes as the long-running inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal heads into its final stages.

Between 1999 and 2015, hundreds of sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted after faulty computer software made it appear as though money was missing from their accounts.

Is your Post Office branch affected?

Here is a list showing the 108 Post Office branches due to be offloaded to franchisees:

Aldwych – London

Baker Street – London

Bangor – Main Street, Bangor, Wales

Barnes Green – Lee Road, Manchester

Barnet – High Street, Barnet, London

Belfast City – Bridge Street, Belfast, Northern Ireland

Bexhill On Sea – Devonshire Square, Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex

Bideford – The Quay, Bideford, Devon

Birmingham – Pinfold Street, Birmingham

Bransholme – A Goodhart Road, Bransholme, East Yorkshire

Breck Road – The Mall, Breck Road, Liverpool

Bridlington – Quay Road, Bridlington, East Yorkshire

Brixton – Ferndale Road, Brixton, London

Broadway – London

Caernarfon – Castle Square, Caernarfon, Wales

Cambridge City – St Andrew Street, Cambridge

Canning Town – Barking Road, London

Chester Le Street – Front Street, Chester Le Street, County Durham

Cosham – High Street, Cosham, Hampshire

Cricklewood – Cricklewood Broadway, London

Crossgates – Austhorpe Road, Crossgates, West Yorkshire

Croydon – High Street, Croydon, London

Dereham – Quebec Street, Dereham, Norfolk

Didsbury Village – Albert Hill Street, Didsbury, Greater Manchester

Dunraven Place – Wyndham Street, Bridgend, Wales

East Dulwich – Lordship Lane, London

Eccles – Church Street, Eccles, Greater Manchester

Edinburgh City – Waverley Mall, Edinburgh

Furness House – Dalton Road, Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria

Glasgow – West Nile Street, Glasgow

Gloucester – Kings Square, Gloucester, Gloucestershire

Golders Green – Finchley Road, London

Great Portland Street – London

Grimsby – Victoria Street, Grimsby, Lincolnshire

Haddington – Court Street, Haddington, Scotland

Hampstead – Hampstead High Street, London

Harlesden – Wendover Road, Harlesden, Greater London

Harold Hill – Farnham Road, Romford, Greater London

High Holborn – London

Houndsditch – White Kennet Street, London

Hyde – Market Place, Hyde, Greater Manchester

Inverness – Queensgate, Inverness, Scotland

Islington – Upper Street, Islington, London

Kendal – Stricklandgate, Kendal, Cumbria

Kennington Park – Kennington Road, London

Kensington – Kensington High Street, London

Kettering – Lower Street, Kettering, Northamptonshire

Kilburn – Kilburn High Road, London

Kingsbury – Kingsbury Road, London

Kingsland High Street – London

Kirkwall – Junction Road, Kirkwall, Scotland

Knightsbridge – Raphael Street, London

Leigh – Silk Street, Leigh, Greater Manchester

Leighton Buzzard – Church Square, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire

Liskeard – The Parade, Liskeard, Cornwall

London Bridge – Borough High Street, London

Londonderry – Custom House Street, Londonderry, Northern Ireland

Lower Edmonton – South Mall, Edmonton Green, Greater London

Lupus Street – Greater London

Matlock – Bank Road, Matlock, Derbyshire

Melville Road – Melville Road, Hove, East Sussex

Merthyr Tydfil – John Street, Merthyr Tydfil, Wales

Milton Keynes – Midsummer Boulevard, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire

Morecambe – Victoria Street, Morecambe, Lancashire

Morley – Queens Street, Morley, West Yorkshire

Mount Pleasant – Rosebery Avenue, London

Mutley – Mutley Plain, Plymouth, Devon

Nailsea – Crown Glass Place, Nailsea, Somerset

Newquay – East Street, Newquay, Cornwall

Newtownards – Frances Street, Newtownards, Northern Ireland

Northolt – Mandeville Road, Northolt, London

Old Swan – Prescot Road, Liverpool

Oswestry – Willow Street, Oswestry, Shropshire

Oxford – St Aldates, Oxford

Paddington Quay – Praed Street, London

Paignton – Torquay Road, Paignton, Devon

Port Talbot – Station Road, Port Talbot, Wales

Portsmouth – Slindon Street, Portsmouth, Hampshire

Poulton Le Fylde – Teanlowe Centre, Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire

Prestwich – Kingswood Road, Prestwich, Greater Manchester

Raynes Park – Amity Grove, London

Redditch – Threadneedle House, Alcester Street, Redditch, Worcestershire

Roman Road – Roman Road, Bethnal Green, London

Romsey – Church Street, Romsey, Hampshire

Rotherham – Bridgegate, Rotherham, South Yorkshire

Salford City – Rossall Way, Salford, Greater Manchester

Saltcoats – Chapelwell Street, Saltcoats, Scotland

South Ockendon – Derwent Parade, South Ockendon, Essex

South Shields – King Street, South Shields, Tyne and Wear

Springburn Way – Springburn Way, Glasgow

St Johns – Albion Street, Leeds, West Yorkshire

St Peters Street – St Peters Street, St Albans, Hertfordshire

Stamford – All Saints Place, Stamford, Lincolnshire

Stamford Hill – London

Stockport – Great Underbank, Stockport, Greater Manchester

Stornoway – Francis Street, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis

Stroud – Russell Street, Stroud, Gloucestershire

Sunderland City – Fawcett Street, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear

Teignmouth – Den Road, Teignmouth, Devon

The City Of London – Eastcheap, London

The Markets – New York Street, Leeds, West Yorkshire

Vauxhall Bridge Road – London

Wealdstone – Headstone Drive, Harrow, Greater London

Westbourne – Seamoor Road, Bournemouth, Dorset

Wester Hailes – Westside Plaza, Edinburgh

Windsor – Peascod Street, Windsor, Berkshire

Worlds End – Kings Road, London

Yate Sodbury – South Parade, Yate, Gloucestershire

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