Sue Edgar's comment: NFSP January Board Meeting and PO’s commitment to fair remuneration for postmasters

Hi all,

I write this column after attending a very positive NFSP Board Meeting in Coventry earlier this week. The new Post Office Ltd (PO) team of Acting Chief Executive Neil Brocklehurst, Interim Chief Transformation Officer Andy Nice and Interim Corporate Affairs Director Charlotte Cool were all in attendance and spoke to us in an honest and transparent way.

In all my time working as a postmaster, I have not known that to happen before. I admit to having humble pie as it was not what I was expecting, and I almost felt lost for words – as you know, that’s not me.

For years, the NFSP has asked PO to class us as equal partners and pushed for more remuneration for postmasters at every meeting. 

Neil and Andy sat in front of the NFSP Board and spoke about the need to reduce PO’s high central operations costs. The aim is for postmasters to be paid more than half of the revenue which comes into the business. After all, postmasters are the money generators for PO.

PO’s new team are looking to us to help them get the metrics right, and to make sure that postmasters get paid fairly for all the work we do so that we have a viable business going forward. 

These are magic words to postmasters, and we have waited for this for far too long. I hear you say, ‘we have heard these promises before’. I remember Allan Leighton and implying better is to come in his speech of jam tomorrow and being given ghost shares in Royal Mail not once, but twice. Well, the jam never came, and with Royal Mail sold, the ghost shares we thought we held were worthless. 

However, it feels as though we are finally being recognised for who we are and what we do. I still have this little niggle at the back of my brain saying, ‘can we trust PO after all the lies and deception?’ but I am going to stick my neck on the line and say, yes, I think at last we can. 

Now I don’t give my trust easily but if I do, don’t break it because there is no way back. I believe that PO are going to deliver on their promises this time, and that we will finally be rewarded for all of the income we generate.

With all that being said, now is when we all have to come together as one and end any mistrust within the network. The NFSP has fought for years to see the day when postmasters can have a viable future. Hopefully that day is not too far away now.

Kind regards,

Sue Edgar

North East Non-Executive Director