Three Hampshire Post Offices due to be impacted as company plans to offload 108 directly-owned branches

The Post Office has revealed that it is planning to get rid of 108 branches by handing them over to franchisees by the end of the year, according to reports from Metro News.

As a result of the news, three Hampshire based Post Offices will be impacted and could be at risk of closure. Slindon Street Post Office in Portsmouth, Cosham Post Office in Cosham, and the Church Street Post Office in Romsey will all be directly affected by the decision to franchise the branches.

As of March 2024, there was a network of over 11,500 Post Office branches in the UK, 108 of which are fully owned by the company while the remaining are operated by partners.

At the start of the year, a House of Commons report was published regarding Post Office branches which included the developments and statistics of the company.

The report said: “In November 2024, the interim chair of the Post Office said that ‘we … need to have an honest conversation about … our Directly Managed Branches, while still meeting the current requirement for 11,500 branches.’

“This is part of the five-year Transformation Plan for the Post Office discussed in Section 1.5. According to the government, it is the Post Office’s ambition to operate the post office network on a fully franchised basis in time, as this is a more sustainable model.

“This suggests that the existing Crown branches will be closed or be run by someone else.”

The process of franchising the 108 branches will either see them taken over by other businesses or partners or close completely if sales cannot be agreed.

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