Hundreds of local government leaders gathered in London to share ideas and come up with ways to save post offices threatened with closure. At a sell-out event delegates were told by industry officials not to underestimate the commitment needed to run a post office. They were also urged to work in partnership with existing branches to drum up custom and keep them open. Simon Burman, of Post Office Ltd, said 89% of sub-post masters believed that working with councils was a way to grow their business. He said Leeds city council had used post offices to distribute school uniform vouchers while Sedgemoor district council had run consultations in local branches. Essex county council has led the way in proposing to reopen branches within council-owned buildings. Council leader Lord Hanningfield (pictured) said they were hoping to reopen two branches shortly and save 15 of the 31 threatened with closure. Sue Huggins, head of the the Post Office’s network change programme, under which 2,500 branches are set to close, said once the Essex scheme was up and running other authorities would be able to use the same model and tailor it to their needs. But she warned of the difficulties in undertaking such a scheme. The conference came as LGA chairman, Sir Simon Milton, held talks with senior post office executives to discuss branch closures. Watch the archived webcast of this event: http://www.lga.ukcouncil.net/site/#pp14997

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15 May 2008
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