LTB333/16 Post Office: Crown Office Network - WHSmith Franchising & Hosting

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LTB333/16 Post Office: Crown Office Network - WHSmith Franchising & Hosting

No.333/2016

26th May 2016



POST OFFICE: CROWN OFFICE NETWORK – WHSMITH FRANCHISING & HOSTING UPDATE

Dear Colleagues

Further to LTB 294/16 dated 12th May a further announcement has been made with regards to franchising and “hosting”:

• Crowns to be Franchised – of the original 39 Crowns listed in LTB030/16, 15 Crowns (inclusive of the 3 below) have now been announced for franchise to WHSmith; the additional Crowns announced on Tuesday 24th May are as follows:

Durham Peterborough City Wakefield

• Crowns to be “Hosted” (“concessions”) – of the approximate 30 Crowns planned for relocation into a WHSmith as “hosted” branches, 12 (inclusive of the 3 below) have been announced so far. Earlier this week, the following three Crowns were added to the list:

Aberdeen, Union St. Llandudno Lowestoft

Campaigning Against Franchising

Congratulations once again to the members in Bury St Edmunds Crown Office, Eastern No.4 Branch, who overwhelmingly supported strike action on Friday 13th May in response to the Post Office’s plans to franchise their Crown. A public meeting also took place in Bury St Edmunds that evening and I would like to thank the organisers and speakers including Lynn Simpson and Ian Ward, Postal Executive members, Tim Pavelin, Area Representative and Tracy Pier, Deputy Area Representative.

A successful public meeting was held in Paisley on Friday 20th May. Mhairi Black MP from the SNP, Neil Bibby, MSP, Labour Party and I addressed the meeting, which was well attended. Thanks go to Mhairi Black and also to David Bowmaker, Territorial Representative and Carole Bowmaker, Area Representative and of course the Glasgow District Amal Branch for their efforts in organising this event.

Further developments will be reported once the Post Office has advised us of their developing plans. Although the recent announcements to members and the public have occurred on a weekly basis (on Tuesday mornings), we anticipate from our discussions with the Post Office that no further announcements are planned until later in June, subject to the possibility of one or two exceptions.

If you have any questions in relation to this LTB, please contact lsheridan@cwu.org

Yours sincerely


Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary