Post Office Ltd.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Post Office Ltd (Welsh: Cyrchwr Codau Post) is a retail post office company in the United Kingdom that provides a wide range of products including postage stamps, welfare and banking to the public through its nationwide network of post office branches.
Contents |
[edit] Structure
Post Office Ltd was separated from the postal service Royal Mail in 1986 but remains a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Mail Group plc. A large number of its branches are under franchise agreements.
There are currently over 14,300 Post Office branches across the UK.
[edit] Services
The Post Office a wide variety of services in all its branches in the UK including:
- Mail services (Royal Mail services, stamps, Parcelforce Worldwide etc)
- Personal banking services (Paying-in, Withdrawals, Bill payments and Balance enquiries) for certain banks and NSANDI only
- Business banking services
- National Lottery services
- Mobile phone E-Top-up (including purchasing Top-up vouchers)
- Processing passport, fishing licences, European Health Card, international driving permits and driver's licences applications
- Providing some government department forms (for example, HM Customs and Revenue's R85 and R105 forms)
- Selling and cashing-in postal orders
- Keeping Post Restante mail (for up to 2 weeks for local mail and up to 1 month for international mail)
- Insurance services
- Home telephone services and telephone cards
- Foreign currency exchange and Travel Money Card
- Personal loans
- Bill payments
- Sales of gift vouchers for certain high street merchants
- Sorted! magazine
- Savings stamps
- Keepsafe and redirections
Some Post Offices also have cash machines, most notably operated by Alliance and Leicester plc.
Post Offices are usually open from around 9am to 5pm on Monday - Friday and from 9am to 1pm on Saturday. They are shut on Sundays and Bank Holidays.
The Post Office has been affected by closures in the last few years. This has caused much anger in local communities because the residents are unable to benefit from the postal and banking services that the Post Office provides.
[edit] The Post Office in Wales
The Post Office has recently opened up its services in Wales, providing services in Welsh. However, the services available in Welsh are still considerably fewer than those in English, causing criticism.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Post Office official website
- Royal Mail official website
- Postwatch - the watchdog for postal services
