Post Office is rolling out new concept stores designed to bring more services back to UK high streets.
The Post Office Plus launch follows consumer demand for more in-person support for important life moments, according to the business.
Selected Post Office branches will be transformed into multi-service community hubs, bringing in partners on different days of the week to “provide practical guidance designed to make important life moments easier”.
Founding partners will include multiservice provider Utility Warehouse, legal services Octopus Legacy, and digital inclusion charity Good Things Foundation.
By combining Post Office’s high street network with specialist partner expertise, the new model is set to “make support more accessible when it matters most,” the company said.
The first two Post Office Plus stores will begin operating this week in Barnsley and Derby, while the company has plans to roll out more concept stores across the UK this year.
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In time, each Post Office Plus location is set to provide services tailored to its local community needs with different partners in branch on set days each week, the business said.
The launch comes as research from Post Office showed that half of people said they would be likely to use digital skills training (53 per cent), energy switching services (49 per cent), or will writing guidance (49 per cent), if it were offered in-person in their local area.
Post Office Plus forms part of Post Office’s broader plans to build a “more commercially focused business for operators,” the organisation said.
Post Office CEO Neil Brocklehurst said: “At a time when people increasingly want access to trusted face-to-face services close to home, Post Office, as the UK’s largest retail network, will help keep those essential services on the high street.
“Post Office Plus is designed to complement our existing branch network and gives partners space to offer valuable in-person support to customers at a location they trust.
“Post Office Plus will deliver tangible benefits for everyone involved – more support for customers, new opportunities for partners, and new revenue streams for postmasters.”
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