Newbury Post Office to move to new building next month

Service will relocate after 120 years in Cheap Street

NEWBURY Post Office will move from its current location in Cheap Street – its home for the past 120 years – to a new branch inside WH Smith in Northbrook Street.

Back in September 2016, the Newbury Weekly News reported that the move was on the cards.

And last week, the Post Office confirmed that its last day at Cheap Street will be on April 19, before it completes the relocation to its new home – 350 yards away – on April 20

It insists there will be no job losses or redundancies and that opening hours will stay the same.

It is currently unclear what will happen to the Victorian Grade II-listed building, which opened in November 1896.

However, the adjoining delivery office depot is occupied by Royal Mail, so it is expected to be unaffected by the changes.

The Post Office says the move will create a “modern open-plan branch for customers” and continue to provide the same wide range of services.

Roger Gale, Post Office sales and trade marketing director, said that the change would help to ensure the branch is commercially viable into the future.

He said: “Our customers’ needs continue to change and we are responding to that, taking the right action to sustain our services for years to come.

“We are committed to remaining on high streets and at the heart of communities and we are making changes right across our network to enable us to do so.”

The new branch will have four serving positions and two self-service kiosks, with opening hours from 9am until 5.30pm on Monday and Wednesday to Friday (Tuesday opening 9.30am).

It will also be open from 9am to 12.30pm on Saturdays.

The post office was one of many across the region threatened with closure in 2004, but petitions and protests helped to keep it open.

Work on the Post Office building started in the summer of 1895 and the foundation stone was laid in November that year.

An extension to the original building – which included a telephone exchange – was made around 1929 by Hoskings & Pond.

Further extensions were added in the mid- and late-20th century.

The new branch will open on April 20 and will continue to be operated by the Post Office.