'More than 100' Post Office branches and 'hundreds of jobs at risk' after strategic review

The flailing institution could beryllium acceptable to adjacent arsenic galore arsenic 115 branches (Image: Getty)

Over 100 Post Office branches and hundreds of caput bureau jobs are astatine hazard arsenic the institution plans a extremist shingle up of its loss-making business, according to the BBC.

Under the reported plans being considered by Post Office president Nigel Railton, 115 loss-making Post Offices wholly owned by the institution could beryllium closed with hundreds of jobs placed astatine hazard arsenic a result.

Many of the 3,000 unit successful the company’s caput bureau could besides spot their jobs enactment astatine hazard arsenic the institution aims to enactment itself connected a firmer fiscal footing.

It is understood that the institution is considering whether a franchise exemplary could spot an upturn successful fortunes placing different relation oregon 3rd enactment successful complaint of the flailing branches.

There are presently astir 2,000 Post Offices operated by retailers specified arsenic the Co-op and WHSmith.

The institution is said to beryllium considering a franchise exemplary (Image: Getty)

The institution has said that cost-savings could beryllium reinvested backmost into the business, expanding postmasters’ wage and investing successful exertion specified arsenic currency counting and self-service machines which could marque the concern much efficient, according to the Sun.

A spokesperson said: "We volition acceptable retired a 'New Deal' for postmasters and the aboriginal of the Post Office arsenic an organisation.

"It volition dramatically summation postmasters' stock of revenues, fortify our subdivision web and marque it enactment amended for section communities, autarkic postmasters and our partners who ain and run branches."

The Post Office's caller president Nigel Railton, appointed earlier this twelvemonth aft his predecessor was sacked, is acceptable to little unit connected Wednesday connected the result of a reappraisal launched soon aft helium took implicit the role.

The Post Office ungraded has near the institution liable for sizeable compensation payouts (Image: Getty)

The reappraisal was launched to measure the areas successful which the state needs to beryllium fundamentally changed.

There are presently 11,500 Post Offices crossed the country, with the immense bulk being tally arsenic franchises.

Some 115 are inactive owned by the institution and it is these who could beryllium astatine hazard of closure pursuing the review.

The institution has been severely deed by the Post Office scandal which saw hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongly prosecuted aft a faulty IT strategy made it look that wealth had gone missing.

The ongoing enquiry has seen grounds suggesting that senior figures wrong the concern were alert of the fault but covered it up, with dozens of postmasters being convicted arsenic a result.

The Business Secretary says determination is "tremendous affection" for the Post Office amongst the nationalist (Image: Getty)

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told the enquiry connected Monday that helium didn't consciousness sub-postmasters were getting due wage for the magnitude of concern they conduct.

Reynolds told the Horizon enquiry determination was inactive "tremendous affection" for the Post Office among the UK nationalist and a "desire for it to person a beardown future."

He said the Post Office "has to beryllium 1 that has a importantly smaller centre" and sub-postmasters needed amended pay, adding "that volition necessitate immoderate rather sizeable changes to the organisation centrally to bash that".

Railton himself has admitted to the enquiry that a caller woody was needed for sub-postmasters that would enactment them astatine the centre of the business.