Evolution of post offices as traditional face changes

But the face of the traditional post office is changing rapidly and many branches have now closed on high streets, with services instead being offered over shop counters.

Since April 2012, decisions have been made to relocate or refurbish 72 branches in areas of Wolverhampton, Staffordshire and the Black Country – with further proposals on the table for others.

A total of 17 post offices have either closed or been earmarked for closure following public consultation, with some yet to move.

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Many of them had stood on the same site for decades, while others shut up shop after more than 100 years.

Post Office bosses said relocating branches had created longer opening hours, shorter waiting times and access to a wider range of services. But union bosses have voiced their objections, claiming there are no guarantees that private operators will not close the service down in the future.

Meanwhile, critics fearing future moves have aired concerns that services could be downgraded and jobs lost.

Trent Lane post office in Great Haywood shut up shop in January after trading for 106 years, with a new-style post office springing up in the nearby Spar shop in Main Road.

It had been run by husband and wife, Brenda, aged 62, and Tom English, 61, for 15 years.

The couple are still living in the building but its post office counters and equipment have now all been ripped out.

Speaking about the changing times, former postmaster and father-of-two Mr English said there was a danger that the new-style post offices could offer a reduced and more impersonal service.

He said: "It was more personal when Brenda and myself ran the post office. The whole village knew us. When it goes into a Spar or Co-op it's a lot more impersonal."

He said services offered by the post office had reduced over the years and as a result business had declined.

Mr English added: "We lost TV licensing. The biggest nail in the coffin for the post office was when they got rid of the pension book.

"I just felt it was time to retire. This was a post office for 106 years. It was here when we moved in but all the post office has been ripped out and we are converting it back into a room."

At the Spar shop, in Main Road, services are now offered from the retail counter and a third till point has been added, acting as a mini post office counter.

Around half of the dozen staff in the shop have been trained up in post office services, and store owner 48-year-old Helen Toney said business had been going well since the transition in January.

She said: "It's very busy. Having it here has allowed the post office to be kept in the village. If it had not come into our shop, we would have lost it.

"We do virtually the same services but we don't do Transcash.

"We are training up certain members of staff who enjoy it on there and we will have longer opening hours in the future."

The main post office branch in Wolverhampton city centre, which opened in the mid 1960s, moved to the opposite side of the road to the Nisa Local Store, in Lichfield Street, in November, baffling some customers who questioned the logic of moving it just metres away.

But manageress of the post office, Karina Greenwood, said it had been a change for the better.

The 41-year-old, of Oxley, said: "We were in a building that was old and colder before. It has been a good move. It's a lot brighter, cleaner and warmer.

"We've got longer opening hours so there's more accessibility for customers and our footfall has increased from the last post office.

"All of the staff moved over and they are now getting retail experience as well."

Rubi Deo, aged 26, who owns the Nisa store and also runs Whitmore Reans Post Office with her 28-year-old husband Harry, said they bought the shop last year after the owner put it up for sale with a view to rehousing the post office so both businesses could carry on. A decision has also been taken to close Coalpool post office, in Dartmouth Avenue, Walsall, and move services next door to Costcutter on a date yet to be decided.

Suky Johal, who has been the postmistress for six years, said it was the only way for the post office to move forward and survive. The 42-year-old said: "If the post office is going to succeed in this climate, the only way forward is to have a big retail side.

"It's all change with the new structure. The way forward is through sales. It's the only way we can see it." Plans to move some branches into shops have been met with controversy.

Proposals to close Willenhall Post Office, in John Street, and move services into a shop sparked protests from campaigners.

Bosses have insisted a decision has not yet been made and confirmed a consultation would be held, but concerned Willenhall South councillor Sean Coughlan said: "There is not another premises as big in Willenhall so it would mean it would move to a smaller place.

"I believe there will be job losses and a lesser service."

Members of the Communication Workers Union staged strikes last year in protest at the franchising and closure of Crown offices, which are the larger branches usually located in high streets.

Midlands regional secretary, Lee Barron said: "We oppose closure and relocation.

"Once the post office closes, it's lost from the high street forever. If the private company that has taken the post office into the shop closes it, then it's gone forever.

"It's taking the post office off the high street and putting it into the back of convenience stores. They hope to get a footfall increase in their shops."

He said it also affected jobs, with new operators able to offer reduced terms and conditions of employment.

Coven Post Office has become one of the latest branches earmarked to move.

Proposals were recently revealed to resite the branch next door to its current site in Brewood Road at The Allotment, with a consultation now under way.

But Post Office bosses have claimed that customer satisfaction with the new-look branches was high.

Regional network manager Adrian Wales said: "We are investing to dramatically improve what we offer, making it easier for customers to do business with us. We are modernising our branch network, increasing our range of financial products.

"The extra investment comes with a clear commitment – the size of the branch network will be maintained at around its current size of over 11,500 post office branches – more than all the banks and building societies combined. Customers have been clear, that they want Post Office services in their communities and on high streets; we want this too whilst also meeting their changing needs," he added.

Under the current Parliament, the Government committed £1.34bn for the Post Office network to make sure there is no programme of post office closures and to update branches.

In November, the Government announced a further £640m investment in the Post Office network, from 2015 to 2018.

Nationwide, the investment programme will see up to 8,000 branches modernised with additional investment in over 3,000 community and outreach branches.