Last week I was made aware that WHSmith was advertising for jobs for the proposed move of Wokingham Post Office to their premises. This was despite the fact that the consultation is still underway and that I, along with three Wokingham Borough councillors are meeting with the Post Office Network and Sale Director on 22 February to discuss our concerns. I immediately raised this with the Post Office and I have received the reply below.
Thank you for drawing this to our attention.
It is normal practice for WHSmith and other potential new operators of Post Offices to advertise for possible new roles in potential replacement Post Offices, and it is not the case that this pre-empts any final decisions about moving a branch.
Once a branch goes into consultation, both Post Office and the potential new operator begin all the detailed planning for the move. Any recruitment is conditional upon the proposal being approved. The reason this detail planning is done at an early stage, ahead of a final decision, is that we know, should the decision to move the branch be made, it is much better for our staff and the community that the transfer proceeds without any unnecessary delays.
We can see that only one of the three adverts for roles at the potential new Wokingham Post Office makes this clear. We have contacted WHSmith and asked them to correct this ASAP.
Kind regards,
Ken
External Affairs Manager
20 Finsbury Street,
London
EC2Y 9AQ
Follow this news feed: John Redwood MP