THE Post Office in Abbey Place, Tavistock, will be under new management from September 5, as it becomes a franchise branch. The consultation period recently came to a close, after inviting the public for their opinions on services which they thought should continue or be introduced. All suggestions put forward were considered by the consumer body Postwatch, before plans were finalised. Nick Gittens, network service manager said: ?The reality is that the Post Office Ltd is facing severe financial pressures, and we?ve had to look at how we can continue to offer our customers great services as efficiently as possible?. The Post Office will go under the management of EKRAJ Ltd in partnership with the Post Office. Mr Gittens said: ?I firmly believe that entering into a partnership agreement, our customers will continue to benefit from excellent service in an outlet that also has a retail offer?. EKRAJ Ltd has a strong team with both experience and success in running Post Offices and retail operations: ?The main reason for making this change is to safeguard Post Office services at this branch into a longer term future. ?I have concluded that entering into a partnership with EKRAJ Ltd will allow us to do so and is therefore the correct course of action to take.? Under the new management, staff at the branch, will receive the same level of training on an ongoing basis, and will have the support of a designated Post Office area manager. The new management from September will retain all old services with the addition of longer opening hours, from 8.30am to 5.30pm on Monday to Saturday, as well as selling newspapers and confectionery.
