Closure chaos at Post Offices in Weymouth and Dorchester
9:00am Wednesday 7th January 2009
Comments (14)SHOCKED customers were turned away from post offices in Weymouth and Dorchester after the franchisee operating them went into administration.
Post Office branches in St Thomas Street, Weymouth and Trinity Street, Dorchester, were closed after Counter Management Ltd called in the administrators.
Staff shut the doors and pinned up notices directing customers to sub-post offices elsewhere in town.
Groups of angry people were left outside the post offices after the sudden closures.
Notices on the doors of the Weymouth branch directed customers to other post offices at Dorchester Road, Abbotsbury Road and Chickerell and Littlemooor.
Administrator Mike Fortune from insolvency firm Portland Business and Financial Solutions said: “We closed for several hours effectively in order to cash up the post office counters and to take care of some other business.”
He added: “These branches cannot be closed and no-one wants to see them closed.
“We’re all working to keep them open and, as far as I’m concerned, they will be open again and I apologise for any inconvenience this has caused.”
Mr Fortune said jobs might eventually be lost in post office shops but that the majority of jobs would be safe.
Administrators arrived at the Weymouth branch yesterday, prompting staff to start turning away customers before locking the doors.
Customers were forced to make the journey to sub post offices to send parcels, pick up pensions and cash benefit cheques.
James Smith, who sells goods via website eBay, arrived at the Weymouth branch with three parcels and no means of sending them.
He said: “It was annoying because I come into town, parked up, paid my money and found that the post office was closed.”
Pensioners attempting to collect their pensions and winter fuel allowances were among those turned away.
Former Weymouth and Portland mayor Jess Nagel said she was ‘disgusted’ by the shock closure.
She added: “Old age pensioners should not have to trundle all the way to the post office in the cold only to be told that the post office is closed.
“I think it’s disgusting that they haven’t had any warning.”
Another disgruntled customer Cath Knibbs added: “I came to post a parcel.
“This is absolutely outrageous.
“This post office is a part of Weymouth.”
Weymouth and Portland Borough councillor Mike Goodman said that the closure had been ‘devastating’ for the people of Weymouth and the council was demanding the office were re-opened.
The doors of the Dorchester branch were locked yesterday afternoon and a sign put up saying the closure was due to ‘technical problems’.
Another sign on the door told customers to use the nearby post office in Victoria Park and that the Trinity Street branch would be open again today.
Post Office spokesman Tom Prendergast said: “I can confirm that the branches at Weymouth and Dorchester closed temporarily yesterday afternoon due to circumstances beyond our control.
“We are taking steps to reopen the branches as soon as possible and anticipate this happening today.
“In the meantime we would like to apologise to customers for any inconvenience.”
South Dorset MP Jim Knight said: “Local people are understandably concerned about the closures.”
No one from Counters Management Ltd was available for comment other than to confirm that the company has now gone into administration.
Mr Fortune said the short-term closures were necessary to balance the books but he hoped that the branches would re-open today.
Customer reactions
Ben Geyser found he couldn’t get hold of the cash he needed because of the closure.
He said: “I have a post office account and I was going to get some money out.
“I'll have to go to the Littlemoor branch instead.”
Pensioner Marion Lawry, of Weymouth, added: “I walked past this morning and everything seemed normal. I was shocked to see the office shut. Everyone needs their post office.”
David Johnson said: “It was terrible because it’s a massive post office.
“I was overwhelmed by it.
“It has affected everyone. Not only pensioners but people who need to pay in money and people who have urgent things to post.”
Your Say YourDorset Echo
Gary_Hepburn, Weymouth says...
11:13am Wed 7 Jan 09
To put it into perspective about 97% of Post Offices are privately run companies with only around 3% or 300 being run by the Post Office Ltd themselves and before the recent closure and franchising of main Post Offices this situation was not a lot different in percentage terms. The Weymouth, Dorchester and Salisbury offices have for sometime been operated by Counters Management Ltd (a private company).
The real story here is the amazing speed with which Post Office Counters Ltd as the Franchisor has put its contingency plans into action, having realised Counter Management Limited had gone into receivership, it has secured temporary use of the premises and has arranged to staff the Post Office up so that it can reopen today (7 Jan). So at the end of the day customers have only seen a small blip and loss of service amounting to half a day. But unless postal users support their Post Offices for things like pensions, insurance, car tax etc. we can only expect that more Post Offices will struggle, and it is not fair to expect sub postmasters as private individuals with their own businesses to run them at a loss and subsidise them from their own pocket.
WhyOhWhy, Weymouth says...
11:23am Wed 7 Jan 09
maximus, Weymouth says...
11:46am Wed 7 Jan 09
Did he not know that this was pending and if not why not, I thought that this government was micro-managing the economy. Why isn't Jim also concerned?
Albo, Wyke Regis says...
11:52am Wed 7 Jan 09
Big Daddy, Muff says...
2:21pm Wed 7 Jan 09
Oh dear just been to Buxton Road and notice of closure says use the Town Centre Main PO.
What a farce - perhaps PO will change its mind about Buxton Road
deco1935, Dorchester says...
3:19pm Wed 7 Jan 09
Tinytone, Dorchester says...
4:50pm Wed 7 Jan 09
Or in the case of Dorchester seeing as they closed 50% of the Post Offices is the town last year sub-post office singular.
What a farce.
dopey, says...
5:28pm Wed 7 Jan 09
Bring back the Penny Post.
7s 2d for a letter that MAY arrive tomorrow is a joke.
Morse, Chickerell says...
6:01pm Wed 7 Jan 09
dopey wrote:If he was buried alive that is!
If Roland Hill was alive today, he would be turning in his grave !! Bring back the Penny Post. 7s 2d for a letter that MAY arrive tomorrow is a joke.
I Don't Like The New Echo Website, Weymouth says...
6:31pm Wed 7 Jan 09
Dopey by name, Dopey by nature. The cost of stamp for a standard, normal letter is actually remarkable value. For less than the cost of most newspapers, you can send a letter from Cornwall to Scotland. When you consider the actual logistics and costs involved in this, it is astonishingly good value. Yes, it is moronic that the Weymouth and Dorchester PO's have shut, but this has nothing to do with the cost of a stamp.
CoogarUK, Dorchester says...
12:47am Thu 8 Jan 09
Gary_Hepburn, Weymouth says...
8:07am Thu 8 Jan 09
The reason the Post Office did not foresee franchisee Post Office operators going into receivership is I guess the same as 99% of us out here in the real world not ever suspecting Woolworth’s would go bust. Who would have believed that we would be facing long established companies like Woolworths going bust if we were asked 12 months ago. We are in unprecedented times and unexpected and unplanned things happen!
In respect of people supporting Dorchester Post Office. It is good to see healthy queues at Post Offices, but a long queue does not necessarily mean good business or financial viability. Just to explain, for each transaction the Post Office operator gets a fee or commission, as a way of an example on stamps this is 5%, so for every pound paid on postage over a Post Office counter the company operating it get 5p. With the average stamp purchase being 4 first class stamps at 36p (£1.44) the Post Office operator will get 7.2p . It does not take an expert mathematician to work out to cover the counter clerks wages alone if they are £6 an hour, that they need to serve 84 customers an hour if they are just buying stamps and this is before you take into consideration, insurance, utilities costs, and other business overheads. However other transactions do attract a higher commission and help the Post Office operator better, these are things like foreign currency and insurance etc. The Post Office offering in these areas is very competitive and if customers supported these newer and different products better, offices would be more financially viable, this is what I was aiming at when I said that we should all support our Post Offices better.
In respect of the Broadwey and Buxton Road Post Offices. I believe Broadwey shut sometime ago and there is a suitable alternative just along the Littlemoor road which means people do not need to go into town and therefore a credible alternative. The Buxton Road office is still currently open (although a closure notice is being displayed) a small group of people are still working on any options for challenging the decision on this office to see if it can be saved. If anyone is interested in helping I guess if you pop into Buxton Road Office and speak to Roger the Sun Post Master he would be happy to put anyone in touch with this group.
Sashaisagod, weymouth says...
9:26pm Thu 8 Jan 09
The inference on the fact that many were hoping to collect winter fuel payments is also flawed, as the proportion of these were paid out to those who qualified in November!
NO ENTRY: Customers gathering outside Weymouth Post Office after its sudden closure
In this section
- Don't panic says schools as child is diagnosed with swine flu
- Footballer Ian Wright's team of young inmates to play at Portland festival
- Change of plan for shipwreck reef site off Portland
- Shamed fraudster left victims in tears
- Vital work at Bovington can mean safety on the front line
- Top marks for school.. again
- Singing for the brain to help those suffering from Alzheimer's
- Speed limit plans welcomed for danger road
- Top celebrity chefs to cook at Dorset Seafood Festival
- Weymouth lecturer to tackle charity Channel swim
Sponsored Links
Local Advertisers
Local Information
Enter your postcode, town or place name
Albo, Wyke Regis says...
9:29am Wed 7 Jan 09
Oooh... came over all 'Daily Mail' there