More than just selling stamps: Croydon’s Post Office on the High Street
The Post Office is ploughing on with the closure of its Croydon High Street branch, conducting one of those legally-required but completely pointless consultations, where they ask the public for their views, and then carry on and do exactly what they always intended.
Croydon’s central Post Office could close within a matter of weeks, shifting its business into the less-than-welcoming Whitgift Centre, with a sort of flat-share arrangement with TG Jones (WH Smith as was).
The Croydon High Street Post Office, in as central a location as could be wished for, close to the tram rattling down George Street and on to Church Street, is a grand, purpose-built building dating from more than a century ago. Nothing in the Post Office’s consultation indicates what plans they might have for the building, nor how they intend to preserve this bit of Croydon’s built heritage.
The scandal-hit Post Office think bunking up with WH Smith in the Whitgift Centre is a better idea. It is, of course, just a cheaper option.
Croydon’s closure is one of 115 Crown Post Offices to close, with a loss of around 1,000 jobs, in a move described by union bosses as “immoral”.
It will be just the latest low blow to Croydon’s already blighted High Street.
Croydon’s main Post Office is almost always busy, often with long queues which the staff usually move along swiftly and efficiently. They provide services far more complex than simply the selling of postage stamps, as they handle pension payments, gas meter top-ups, out-of-hours banking payments, driving licence and passport applications and a range of other, quasi-governmental bits of form-filling essential for life in 21st Century Britain.
The Post Office is – or was – the largest retailer in the country, often providing an anchor for communities, offering mail and banking services to approximately 6million small businesses.
Blight new future: the Post Office offers a view into the co-habiting branch inside a TG Jones. It is likely to be smaller than the current Post Office
The Post Office says that the Croydon move could happen in October or November.
“We are proposing to move… to a new location: TGJones, Whitgift Centre, 34 North End, Croydon, CR0 1UB, where it would be run by our retail partner,” the consultation announcement states.
“Post Office Ltd recently announced it is moving to a fully franchised network, as part of our wider commitment to deliver a ‘New Deal for Postmasters’.” The sub-postmasters jailed and persecuted by the Post Office in the Horizon IT scandal must be loving the idea of a “new deal”…
“Over 99% of the Post Office network is already successfully operated on a franchise basis by carefully selected retail partners. We are confident this would create a long-term, sustainable future for post offices in communities across the UK, including Croydon.”
And they say, “We’re carrying out a local public consultation and we’d like your views on the proposal. We welcome feedback and comments that can help inform our plans.”
The Post Office’s often leading questions include “Getting to the proposed location” and “Getting to the proposed location”, as well as “Inside the proposed location”. The consequence of the move seems almost certain to provide less space for the long queues of customers than at present.
The online survey does encourage responses from council chief executives (has Katherine Kerswell ever sauntered across from Fisher’s Folly to buy a second-class stamp?), from councillors and even MPs. Perhaps the Minister of State for industry in Keir Starmer’s government, Sarah Jones, the MP for Croydon West, where the Post Office is located, might end her silence on the matter?
Has Croydon’s failed Mayor, Jason Perry, taken a break from grinning inanely for photo-ops for five minutes to actually do some work for his £84,000 annual salary and submitted a consultation response on behalf of the people of Croydon? If so, he really ought to make it public, and do something useful for a change.
Read more: Age UK calls for Mayor Khan to act against Post Office closures
Read more: Post Office closure deals new blow for Croydon High Street
- If you have a news story about life in or around Croydon, or want to publicise your residents’ association or business, or if you have a local event to promote, please email us with full details at inside.croydon@btinternet.com
As featured on Google News Showcase
- Our comments section on every report provides all readers with an immediate “right of reply” on all our content. Our comments policy can be read by clicking here
Inside Croydon is a member of the Independent Community News Network
- Inside Croydon works together with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, as well as BBC London News and ITV London
You’re right – usual. Who in their right effing mind would support a bonkers, unhelpful move like this? The original building is a gem and I cannot support its likely new role as a chicken and vape shop
It will make a great pub/club/restaurant
It makes a very good Post Office.
Get a grip of the situation, going to a retailer in the Whitgift Centre is a total waste of your time, you’re better off subletting the space in sections in the centre for small crafters making gifts for Christmas etc and still keep a small counter somewhere inside.
For the Post Office, closing the useful Central Croydon branch is just a cost-cutting measure, but it might be quite useful for W H Smith’s new alias, T J Jones, because you hardly see any customers in there/coming in or out, so it will get T J Jones far more footfall in their shop, when they can also hope to sell them other stuff….
Where is the footfall? the Whitgift is dead….
How will all the old people manage? (Wanted to get that in before anyone else does. As an old person I always wonder what those who object to post office closures on our behalf think we do in them.)
It will be such a catastrophe to move the Croydon Post office into a crammed place like W.H. Smith location. What is going on in Croydon. Who is running and ruining this place?
As a council tax-payer I feel that we are just being short changed at every step.
PLEASE just give us something to be proud of.
Of you move this post office in to whsmiths isn’t the Whitgift closing down
It’s nearly empty like a ghost town people losing business.
The nearest one is west croydin train station and this is terrible for queues
And ao much issues croydon is becoming somewhere not to go its like rhe
Whole place is falling apart slowly
1. The last few times I’ve been in the post office there have been only a few people there.
2. Depending on the whereabouts of the counter, Smith’s is very little further from the tram stop and much closer to the main shopping area. It’s a lot further from the buses but you failed to mention that.
3. The last time I went to Smith’s, admittedly several years ago, there were 8 people in the entire store so it doesn’t need to be cramped.
4. Most of the Crown Offices have already closed and many are relocated in Smith’s. Generally they seem to work as well as they did before.
5. As l understand it, the age of the building means that there are higher maintenance costs. Also it contains many offices which are surplus to requirements.
6. Much more of a problem is the fact that the large Royal Mail collection lorries will now have to drive regularly through the pedestrianised North End. It was actually the narrowing of the road way when the pŕrředestrianisation was carried out which drove out the drove out the buses which caused the beginning of the decline in the High Street, along with the exorbitant car parking
7. I’m certainly not in favour of the move or policy but the time to tackle it was when the policy was announced at the start of the year. Also it’s a national policy so no local representatives have anything to do with it. The vast majority of the remaining Crown Offices have already been franchised.