December 2023 SubPostmaster magazine
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THE<br />
THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE<br />
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF SUBPOSTMASTERS<br />
DECEMBER <strong>2023</strong> www.nfsp.org.uk<br />
EXCLUSIVE NFSP<br />
INTERVIEW I P10<br />
PO’s Martin<br />
Roberts on the<br />
future of the<br />
network, and<br />
more<br />
NFSP CONFERENCE<br />
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invitation for<br />
new attendees<br />
to the NFSP<br />
Annual<br />
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2024<br />
FREE<br />
INSIDE<br />
Petition power<br />
Inside: The NFSP hands thousands of<br />
signatures backing our DVLA campaign<br />
to 10 Downing Street<br />
PLANNING AHEAD<br />
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in 2024 with<br />
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Contents<br />
THE<br />
THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF THE NATIONAL FEDERATION OF SUBPOSTMASTERS<br />
DECEMBER <strong>2023</strong> www.nfsp.org.uk<br />
In this month’s issue<br />
4 NFSP COMMENT<br />
Chief Executive Officer Calum Greenhow on an exciting<br />
business opportunity for postmasters<br />
6 NEWS<br />
The NFSP’s DVLA petition is delivered to 10 Downing Street<br />
7 NEWS<br />
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak acknowledges the central role of<br />
post offices in communities<br />
8 NEWS<br />
The NFSP National Meeting addressed a number of issues<br />
facing postmasters<br />
9 NEWS<br />
A debate in parliament considered the sustainability of rural<br />
post offices, and the NFSP was in attendance<br />
10 POST OFFICE INTERVIEW<br />
Members’ Editor Jon Follenfant spoke to Martin Roberts,<br />
Group Chief Retail Officer, Post Office Ltd, for an exclusive<br />
interview for The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong><br />
18 NFSP CONFERENCE<br />
Early bird invitation for new attendees to the NFSP Annual<br />
Conference 2024<br />
20 MAILS SEGREGATION<br />
There has been a huge turn around in compliance<br />
performance for the Letter/Large Letter mail bag<br />
22 NFSP FEATURED PARTNER<br />
Phone home with AQA<br />
24 CUSTOMER SUPPORT<br />
Advice on supporting our autistic customers<br />
25 NETWORK UPDATE<br />
Results from the September and October member survey<br />
and directors’ log<br />
26 NFSP FEATURED PARTNER<br />
Kingfisher Cards flies in as a new partner<br />
28 THE NET UPDATE<br />
The latest from the NFSP’s Negotiating and Engagement<br />
Team<br />
30 MAILBOX<br />
Your letters answered by Post Office Ltd and the NFSP<br />
34 PLANNING AHEAD<br />
How to take advantage of the big spring events<br />
6 9<br />
10 24<br />
A reminder: The next edition of The Subpostmaster<br />
will be published in February 2024<br />
Production editor: Allan Norbury (allan@lewisbusinessmedia.co.uk)<br />
Design: Sarah Crowhurst<br />
Contributors: Steven Bailey, Ruth Buckley-Salmon, Wendy Burke, Robert<br />
Clack, Amanda Cox, Julia Goatcher, Calum Greenhow, Keith Richards,<br />
Helen Richardson, Paul Simmonds, Elizabeth Vessey<br />
Members’ Editor: Jon Follenfant<br />
NFSP Headquarters:<br />
Evelyn House, 22 Windlesham Gardens,<br />
Shoreham by Sea, West Sussex BN43 5AZ<br />
Tel: 01273 452324<br />
Email: thesubpostmaster@nfsp.org.uk<br />
The views expressed in The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> are not necessarily those of the NFSP.<br />
The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> is published by Lewis Business Media (Arts) Ltd<br />
on behalf of the National Federation of <strong>SubPostmaster</strong>s<br />
©Lewis Business Media (Arts) Ltd <strong>2023</strong><br />
Tel: 01825 983105<br />
ISSN 0039-433<br />
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<strong>December</strong> <strong>2023</strong> The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> 3
Comment CEO Calum Greenhow<br />
AN EXCITING OPPORTUNITY TO<br />
GROW OUR BUSINESS AGAIN<br />
NFSP Chief Executive Officer<br />
Calum Greenhow<br />
rior to Covid, Tim<br />
P<br />
Boothman and I visited<br />
the headquarters of Royal<br />
Mail in London. During<br />
that meeting with a senior member<br />
of Royal Mail we raised the issue of<br />
postmasters regularly losing<br />
customers to Royal Mail and the<br />
financial impact that was having.<br />
The Royal Mail employee simply<br />
shrugged their shoulders.<br />
Over these recent years, I have<br />
listened to colleagues from around<br />
the country tell me time after time of<br />
losing a business customer direct to<br />
Royal Mail. Despite postmasters<br />
being loyal to the Royal Mail brand,<br />
due to the historical link between<br />
the two businesses, the network has<br />
seen how Royal Mail has protected<br />
its position by increasing the price<br />
difference between its online<br />
platform and the cost to the<br />
customer via your branch. Therefore,<br />
that loyalty is now under severe<br />
strain.<br />
Your concerns have been raised<br />
internally to Post Office Ltd (PO) over<br />
these years and it is now<br />
momentous<br />
that for the first<br />
time in 360 years,<br />
the Post Office<br />
network will be<br />
selling other mail<br />
carriers beyond Royal<br />
Mail.<br />
This is an exciting opportunity for<br />
us to grow our business once again<br />
by becoming a local mails hub for<br />
domestic and business customers.<br />
Over the last few years as Royal Mail<br />
has become more aggressive in<br />
encouraging customers to avoid our<br />
network, we now have the ability to<br />
attract back those customers we<br />
may have lost or, indeed, new<br />
customers as well. This could also<br />
benefit our retail business.<br />
What I can see is just how much<br />
the strikes from this time last year<br />
and the cyber-attack from earlier<br />
this year affected postmasters’<br />
remuneration. Whilst these were out<br />
of the network’s control, collectively,<br />
we all felt the financial impact. Now<br />
we have the ability to minimise<br />
these impacts to our businesses.<br />
“We would<br />
rather have<br />
problems to resolve<br />
than continually<br />
seeing our mails<br />
business eroded”<br />
This is why we asked colleagues<br />
questions on Evri and DPD in last<br />
month’s remuneration survey, so<br />
thank you to everyone who<br />
responded. Colleagues’ expectations<br />
for these products are high and it is<br />
encouraging to see the response<br />
from the network on who would like<br />
to provide these products<br />
immediately. There is a rollout<br />
programme that is about to begin,<br />
however, the NFSP agrees with the<br />
89% of postmasters who want to see<br />
the whole network be able to<br />
provide these services so that<br />
everyone benefits.<br />
Results from the survey show us<br />
where the initial teething<br />
problems are, and we<br />
have raised these with<br />
PO, who are<br />
working on<br />
solutions.<br />
The results<br />
also show that<br />
65% of<br />
postmasters<br />
who currently<br />
accept Evri and<br />
DPD have<br />
invested in<br />
shelving with costs<br />
less than £200. Here,<br />
69% of postmasters have<br />
made it clear how important it is<br />
that PO fully explains its strategy for<br />
these services so that postmasters<br />
can judge the level of investment<br />
they need to provide in relation to<br />
the potential return on that<br />
investment.<br />
Colleagues have also asked for<br />
support from PO in capturing this<br />
market in your local areas so, again,<br />
we will be asking PO to work with<br />
the NFSP to provide this.<br />
Colleagues, this is indeed positive<br />
news and whilst there will be initial<br />
teething problems, we would rather<br />
be in the situation of having these<br />
problems to resolve than continually<br />
seeing our mails business eroded.<br />
Let’s work together with PO to<br />
capture and grow this exciting<br />
opportunity.<br />
4 The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> <strong>December</strong> <strong>2023</strong>
News Roundup<br />
Jenny makes a stand<br />
at Downing Street<br />
Postmaster Jenny Cain, of Barnards Green Post Office, helped<br />
the NFSP deliver the DVLA petition to Downing Street last<br />
month. Here she writes about why keeping DVLA services is<br />
so vital to post offices.<br />
ometimes you have to make<br />
S<br />
a stand for what you believe<br />
in and the 100,000 people<br />
who signed the NFSP<br />
petition to stop the removal of DVLA<br />
services from post offices obviously feel<br />
strongly enough that they added their<br />
names to this campaign.<br />
Having just ‘celebrated’ nine years of<br />
being a postmaster I am acutely aware<br />
of just how many services the<br />
government has withdrawn from our<br />
branches and how this has affected<br />
footfall. The government’s aim to push<br />
everyone onto the internet is causing,<br />
by stealth, higher levels of isolation and<br />
loneliness, along with excluding a<br />
whole sector of society with learning<br />
difficulties, those who do not want<br />
internet access and those in rural areas<br />
that don’t have access. Not to mention<br />
the devaluation of our businesses.<br />
Standing at the door of 10 Downing<br />
Street and handing over the signatures<br />
was a little surreal but also a reminder<br />
that the seat of power<br />
“The feedback<br />
from my customers<br />
was amazing and<br />
many are worried<br />
that they will lose a<br />
vital service”<br />
Jenny Cain delivers<br />
the 100,000-signature<br />
petition to 10 Downing Street<br />
needs to listen to the average person.<br />
Interviewed four times over the<br />
course of the day by both BBC radio<br />
and TV, including being the headline<br />
for the BBC West Midlands news, was a<br />
very nerve-racking experience<br />
especially when the broadcasts were<br />
live. Although the headline was the<br />
potential removal of DVLA services,<br />
myself and my fellow postmaster Tim<br />
Allen from Kington, did also manage to<br />
talk about the overall erosion of services<br />
and how this not only affects the<br />
communities we are all part of but the<br />
role of the post office going forward<br />
and how such erosion is affecting and<br />
devaluing our businesses.<br />
DVLA’s response was “We want all our<br />
customers to be able to access our<br />
services as quickly and easily as<br />
possible…. The role of…. Counter services<br />
will form part of the considerations of<br />
any future offering”. Surely if this is the<br />
case then it should remain in our<br />
branches. Who else has the vast<br />
level of knowledge and<br />
indeed patience to<br />
answer queries day to<br />
day?<br />
Post Office Ltd (PO)<br />
issued a statement to<br />
the BBC describing<br />
“the trading<br />
environment for many<br />
postmasters as<br />
incredibly tough”, that it<br />
was “committed to finding<br />
ways to support them” and<br />
“that it continued to engage<br />
with DVLA to find out more about its<br />
plans for next year”. I would urge the<br />
PO board to look at this response and<br />
do more to negotiate harder to keep<br />
one of the last government services,<br />
before too many postmasters simply<br />
cannot afford to carry on and shut their<br />
doors.<br />
In the weeks which followed<br />
attending Downing Street, the<br />
feedback from my customers was<br />
amazing and many are worried that<br />
they will lose a vital service.<br />
They have learnt a great deal more on<br />
how their habits can affect us and how<br />
being a transactional-based business is<br />
incredibly difficult.<br />
Let’s hope that in the next edition of<br />
this <strong>magazine</strong>, the headline will be a<br />
victory for the everyday person and<br />
postmaster.<br />
6 The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> <strong>December</strong> <strong>2023</strong>
PM responds to DVLA campaign<br />
Prime Minister Rishi<br />
Sunak acknowledged the<br />
central role post offices and<br />
postmasters play in local<br />
communities after the<br />
NFSP presented the DVLA<br />
petition to Downing Street<br />
on Thursday 2 November.<br />
The petition, which has<br />
been signed by thousands<br />
of postmasters and<br />
customers, was created to<br />
put pressure on the<br />
government to reverse its<br />
decision to remove all DVLA<br />
services from Sunday 31<br />
March, 2024.<br />
Six million people use the<br />
Post Office network for<br />
accessing DVLA services<br />
each year and the NFSP<br />
received press coverage<br />
across the UK from<br />
delivering the petition.<br />
The BBC attended<br />
Downing Street to interview<br />
NFSP CEO Calum<br />
Greenhow, NFSP Chair Tim<br />
Boothman, NFSP Non-<br />
Executive Director Sue<br />
Edgar, postmasters Tim<br />
Allen and Jenny Cain and<br />
MP Marion Fellows, whilst<br />
Public Affairs Manager Ruth<br />
Buckley-Salmon held<br />
brollies and took pictures.<br />
The interviews were<br />
broadcast on several local<br />
BBC television and radio<br />
stations, and stories were<br />
published in numerous<br />
local newspapers.<br />
Sue wrote several emails<br />
to Sunak, her MP for<br />
Richmond (Yorks), to<br />
highlight the campaign<br />
and received a reply<br />
the day after the<br />
petition was<br />
presented.<br />
After thanking<br />
Sue for her<br />
emails and<br />
apologising for<br />
being unable to<br />
meet with the<br />
NFSP, the Prime<br />
Minister wrote: “I would like<br />
to assure you that I fully<br />
acknowledge the central<br />
role that the Post Office and<br />
postmasters play in our<br />
communities. Postmasters,<br />
such as yourself, have an<br />
unrivalled relationship with<br />
their customers, often<br />
going above and beyond to<br />
play a range of roles at the<br />
heart of their communities<br />
and support customers in a<br />
way few other businesses<br />
can.”<br />
A ministerial response<br />
from Richard Holden MP,<br />
who replied in his Minister<br />
for Roads and Local<br />
Transport role before being<br />
appointed Conservative<br />
Party chairman, was also<br />
sent to the NFSP.<br />
He wrote that the<br />
Department for Business<br />
and Trade’s long-standing<br />
position is not to involve<br />
itself in Post Office Ltd’s<br />
(PO’s) commercial<br />
decisions. He added that<br />
would be the position<br />
whether PO is negotiating<br />
with a private company or<br />
another part of<br />
government.<br />
Calum stressed the<br />
importance of delivering<br />
the petition to government<br />
and said: “Presenting this<br />
petition to Downing Street<br />
is a critical moment for us.<br />
“I fully<br />
acknowledge<br />
the role that the<br />
Post Office and<br />
postmasters<br />
play in our<br />
communities”<br />
Left to right: Tim Boothman, Marion Fellows MP, Calum Greenhow,<br />
Sue Edgar, Tim Allen, Jenny Cain and Ruth Buckley-Salmon<br />
Every year services are<br />
being removed from post<br />
offices and this is our<br />
chance to fight back. The<br />
fact that so many<br />
customers signed our<br />
petition demonstrates that<br />
the public want DVLA<br />
services to remain available<br />
in post offices. As de facto<br />
business partners of<br />
government, we need<br />
genuine support to<br />
maintain our ability to<br />
Rishi Sunak<br />
provide vital services in our<br />
communities across the<br />
country.”<br />
Tim Boothman added:<br />
“Post offices are key to<br />
communities. There should<br />
always be somewhere that<br />
people can call in with<br />
enquiries, to perform<br />
transactions and it’s also<br />
essential for the viability of<br />
the network.<br />
“We’ve got some<br />
fantastic postmasters out<br />
there who have rallied<br />
round and pushed this<br />
petition. I’d like to thank<br />
everybody who has taken<br />
part in the campaign and<br />
got their customers and<br />
communities involved.”<br />
The deadline to sign our<br />
petition to prevent<br />
government from removing<br />
DVLA services from post<br />
offices has been extended<br />
to Monday 8 January.<br />
Please continue to share<br />
the petition online and in<br />
your post office.<br />
<strong>December</strong> <strong>2023</strong> The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> 7
News Roundup<br />
The NFSP held its National Meeting on Tuesday 24 October when the<br />
Horizon Inquiry, NBit, the Restrictions Policy and several other topics<br />
were discussed. Here is an overview of the key points.<br />
HORIZON INQUIRY<br />
The NFSP continues to be heavily<br />
involved with the Inquiry and will<br />
support it any way we can but due<br />
to the confidential nature there is a<br />
limit on what can be said.<br />
Phase 4 of the Inquiry began on<br />
Wednesday 19 September and will<br />
continue until late <strong>December</strong>,<br />
before concluding in January 2024.<br />
Phase 5 will not begin until early<br />
2024, with Phases 6 and 7<br />
beginning later in 2024, before Sir<br />
Wyn Williams’s report is finalised<br />
and published.<br />
The Inquiry takes up a significant<br />
amount of the NFSP’s time and we<br />
must fund legal costs ourselves,<br />
unlike Post Office Ltd (PO), which<br />
has received £150 million from<br />
government to help meet costs<br />
associated with the Inquiry. This will<br />
result in us posting losses, as we are<br />
not prepared to cut back on<br />
supporting colleagues today.<br />
NBIT<br />
We are very concerned about the<br />
development of NBIT, which is a<br />
replacement for Horizon.<br />
There is an acknowledgement<br />
about significant delays in the<br />
programme and the first<br />
postmaster trials will not take place<br />
until next year.<br />
There are also concerns over<br />
funding from government that is<br />
required to develop NBIT to fully<br />
rollout. On this basis, the NFSP is<br />
ensuring that government is fully<br />
aware of any issues there may be<br />
around the development of NBIT.<br />
The NFSP wishes to reassure<br />
colleagues that we will do what we<br />
can to ensure the transfer from<br />
Horizon to NBIT is as smooth as<br />
possible.<br />
The NFSP has raised a number of<br />
questions about NBIT and will<br />
update you when we get answers.<br />
RESTRICTIONS POLICY<br />
The Cabinet Office, Performance<br />
and Innovation Unit published a<br />
report in 2000 about the future of<br />
the network.<br />
It stated PO must continue to keep<br />
its policy (Restrictions Policy) under<br />
review to ensure restrictions are not<br />
tighter than absolutely necessary .<br />
This has not been done for a<br />
considerable time, therefore the<br />
NFSP are ensuring that a review on<br />
the Restrictions Policy is taking<br />
place in light of the PIU report of<br />
2000.<br />
There are benefits and detriments<br />
to the Restrictions Policy. The<br />
NFSP’s position is it needs to be<br />
renegotiated to ensure greater<br />
freedom and fairness for<br />
postmasters and to reduce the level<br />
of control that PO has on a<br />
postmaster’s ability to trade .<br />
OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE<br />
The NFSP are looking very closely at<br />
this because we feel the<br />
governance of the Post Office has to<br />
change.<br />
We want to ensure due diligence<br />
takes place before key decisions are<br />
made; policies and strategies are<br />
implemented as intended; key risks<br />
are identified, monitored, and<br />
mitigated; and business processes<br />
and systems are working well.<br />
We need to improve transparency<br />
in decisions made between the<br />
government and PO that affect the<br />
network and therefore the security<br />
of your investment .<br />
Mutualisation is the goal but how it<br />
would be implemented is difficult<br />
because government and PO would<br />
have to agree. Agreement would<br />
also be required from postmasters<br />
and other stakeholders. This type of<br />
governance structure is<br />
commonplace within local<br />
government or within the NHS, so it<br />
is not something new or<br />
unprecedented .<br />
NET UPDATE<br />
There is a proposal currently being<br />
discussed by PO whereby<br />
postmasters could earn extra<br />
income by renting out spare office<br />
space or an unused conversation<br />
room for banks to speak to<br />
customers. Postmasters would<br />
register on Branch Hub, input<br />
contact details and the bank would<br />
liaise directly with the branch. Fees<br />
for this are still being discussed.<br />
We have stressed how important it<br />
is that PO ensures Horizon remains<br />
a strong focus and there will be<br />
continued ongoing improvements<br />
to keep it fit for purpose.<br />
PO has agreed all online travel<br />
insurance renewals originally linked<br />
to an office sale, will be paid to<br />
postmasters at the current rate.<br />
Project Copperstop (network<br />
routers and phone lines): Every<br />
postmaster will get a free desk<br />
phone for the branch worth £52.52<br />
and the portable phone will be<br />
£125.68 (£178.20 minus the £52.52).<br />
Offices which have already bought<br />
a phone will be recompensed<br />
£52.52 in their remuneration.<br />
Etop-up transactions can now be<br />
removed from the basket right up<br />
to settlement, so if the payment<br />
method fails the transaction can be<br />
aborted.<br />
Buy-in-branch first<br />
phase launched<br />
The first phase of Post Office<br />
Ltd’s (PO’s) buy-in-branch sales<br />
with DPD and Evri was launched<br />
in November.<br />
For the first time in PO’s<br />
360-year history, in-branch sales<br />
with multiple carriers was<br />
launched, which means Royal<br />
Mail is no longer the only carrier<br />
available at branches.<br />
The rollout began at all<br />
branches which provides PUDO<br />
services for DPD and Evri.<br />
PO’s aim is to have buy-inbranch<br />
services in all 4,000 DPD<br />
branches and 2,000 Evri<br />
branches in time for the peak<br />
Christmas period, but this will be<br />
dependent on the success of the<br />
first phase pilot.<br />
8 The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> <strong>December</strong> <strong>2023</strong>
Debate about the<br />
sustainability of<br />
rural post offices<br />
The NFSP attended a debate in parliament on<br />
Wednesday 25 October about the sustainability of rural<br />
post offices.<br />
It was tabled by Jamie Stone MP, Caithness,<br />
Sutherland and Easter Ross.<br />
Topics discussed included how the provision of postal<br />
and banking services can help combat rural isolation;<br />
how the government must work with communities to<br />
protect these services; how staffing pressures are<br />
specific to rural offices and how the DVLA helps<br />
increase footfall and can communities have help to<br />
re-open post offices?<br />
Postmaster Craig Greenhalgh is pictured (left)<br />
following the debate with Mr Stone.<br />
Action plan launched to tackle retail crime<br />
An action plan to<br />
tackle retail crime was<br />
launched by the<br />
government in October.<br />
Crime and policing<br />
minister Chris Philp<br />
chaired a meeting with<br />
senior police leaders<br />
and 13 of the UK’s<br />
The NFSP, along with their<br />
solicitors, met with Post Office Ltd to<br />
discuss the ongoing situation around<br />
the dramatic reduction in the leavers<br />
payment, imposed on colleagues<br />
who agreed to leave the network in<br />
2015.<br />
The discussion was flavoursome,<br />
biggest retailers<br />
to launch the Retail<br />
Crime Action Plan,<br />
which sets out to tackle<br />
the rise in shoplifting,<br />
catch more offenders,<br />
and keep retail workers<br />
safe.<br />
Mr Philp said: “I want a<br />
Hard-to-Place meeting update<br />
new zero-tolerance<br />
approach to tackling<br />
shoplifting. It is a blight<br />
on our high streets and<br />
communities and puts<br />
the livelihoods of traders<br />
at risk. I am determined<br />
to drive forward<br />
change.”<br />
and we await a response from PO on<br />
their position. The NFSP has<br />
submitted Freedom of Information<br />
requests to both government and PO,<br />
seeking clarification on how<br />
taxpayer's funding was spent in<br />
relation to Network Transformation,<br />
which has been blocked.<br />
NATIONAL LOTTERY<br />
DEADLINE FAST<br />
APPROACHING<br />
Many postmasters were sent<br />
an email from noreply@<br />
tnlretailerhub.co.uk on<br />
Wednesday 25 October<br />
regarding applications to<br />
become National Lottery<br />
retailers in the Fourth National<br />
Lottery Licence which begins on<br />
Thursday 1 February, 2024.<br />
We encourage you to refer to<br />
the email sent to you to<br />
understand the specific actions<br />
that need to be addressed,<br />
ahead of the deadline of<br />
Monday 18 <strong>December</strong>.<br />
If you have any questions<br />
about next steps, please send an<br />
email to<br />
onboardingsupport@<br />
camelotgroup.co.uk<br />
HORIZON WITNESSES RESCHEDULED<br />
Due to a lack of disclosure from PO, a number of key witnesses<br />
who were due to stand at the Horizon Inquiry in November have<br />
been rescheduled.<br />
Phase 4 will continue until Thursday 21 <strong>December</strong> and two<br />
additional weeks of Phase 4 evidence will follow in January 2024.<br />
The NFSP remains fully engaged with the Inquiry.<br />
Colleagues can watch each session of the Inquiry on YouTube, search<br />
for Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry.<br />
CHECK OUT OUR<br />
YOUTUBE CHANNEL<br />
The NFSP filmed live from<br />
Downing Street when we<br />
handed in the DVLA petition on<br />
Thursday 2 November.<br />
Interviews can be found on our<br />
YouTube channel – National<br />
Federation of Subpostmasters.<br />
<strong>December</strong> <strong>2023</strong> The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> 9
PO Interview<br />
INTERVIEW:<br />
MARTIN ROBERTS<br />
This month, Members’ Editor Jon Follenfant posed a series of questions to Martin<br />
Roberts, Group Chief Retail Officer, Post Office Ltd (PO), for our year-end edition of<br />
The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> <strong>magazine</strong>.<br />
As a leading and important figure in the lives of UK postmasters, determining the economic viability of their<br />
post offices, there are so many questions which our readers are interested in. Postmaster profitability has taken<br />
a hit over the past three or four years due to Covid and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis which has led to higher<br />
operating costs – wages, utilities, etc – coupled with the increased digitalisation of the economy and societal<br />
changes without the necessary significant increases in remuneration.<br />
10 The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> <strong>December</strong> <strong>2023</strong>
Martin Roberts Group Chief<br />
Retail Officer,<br />
Post Office Ltd<br />
What have you achieved during<br />
<strong>2023</strong> which has brought benefit to<br />
the network and postmaster<br />
remuneration?<br />
We introduced a number of<br />
remuneration improvements<br />
including 20% increases to banking<br />
deposits, inflation-linked increases on<br />
Royal Mail volume-based<br />
transactions and increases to DVLA.<br />
Through our multi-carrier mails<br />
propositions, we’re now driving more<br />
than 0.5m parcels per week into PO<br />
branches across the UK.<br />
While increases in remuneration<br />
for the provision of Post Office<br />
products and services are, of course,<br />
important, they are not the only way<br />
to make branches more profitable.<br />
We have also worked hard to change<br />
“We aim<br />
to continue to<br />
build on our<br />
multi-carrier<br />
mails strategy”<br />
the approach of our area managers,<br />
moving them to more of a ‘coach<br />
style’ role using Horizon data to<br />
support postmasters to increase<br />
commercial profitability. We have<br />
seen more than 5,500 Commercial<br />
Excellence (Branch MOT) visits<br />
undertaken this year with a<br />
range of benefits being<br />
identified, from staffing<br />
efficiencies, opening<br />
hours improvements,<br />
growth in crossselling<br />
to travel<br />
insurance, Travel<br />
Money Cards and<br />
more recently the new<br />
mails carriers such as Evri.<br />
From this series of visits, I’m<br />
glad to share that we’ve seen<br />
significant uptake on the advice and<br />
recommendations given, with the<br />
benefit often going directly to the<br />
bottom line for postmasters. This<br />
included 26% of branches agreeing<br />
to review staffing schedules, 29% of<br />
branches agreeing to review staff<br />
effectiveness, and 14% of branches<br />
agreeing to review opening hours.<br />
In addition, our marketing efforts<br />
are helping to drive profitability<br />
through increasing footfall. Our<br />
marketing team has run a series of<br />
impactful marketing campaigns<br />
throughout the year including travel,<br />
Christmas and our first ever tri-party<br />
campaign promoting international<br />
money transfers, as well as exploring<br />
new channels such as promoting our<br />
services on London Underground. In<br />
addition, the ‘Choose Your<br />
Campaign’ portal is now being used<br />
by more than 2,000 branches,<br />
helping postmasters to select the<br />
right messages at the right time.<br />
Our digital team has redesigned<br />
our PostOffice.co.uk website to make<br />
it more user-friendly and accessible.<br />
This is enabling customers to find<br />
the support they need, to help them<br />
understand our products and<br />
services and (critically) driving footfall<br />
to branches as the website acts as a<br />
digital shop window for our 109m<br />
annual website visitors.<br />
Google reviews are becoming an<br />
increasingly important metric. Over<br />
the last 12 months, our average<br />
Google rating has risen from 3.2 to<br />
3.9 stars, and we have consistently<br />
been scoring above 4 stars since<br />
September. We’ve been trialling the<br />
use of business cards across 2,000<br />
branches to remind customers to<br />
leave us reviews and have started<br />
testing what impact our customer<br />
care team can have on supporting<br />
those customers who leave us oneand<br />
two-star reviews.<br />
We're also in the process of<br />
upgrading the Post Office Travel App<br />
and are hoping to migrate our 700k<br />
Travel App users ahead of Christmas.<br />
The app brings together the inbranch<br />
and online experience. In the<br />
current financial year 84% of Travel<br />
Money Cards are bought in branch,<br />
but then 71% of the top-ups are done<br />
digitally – however, postmasters<br />
continue to receive remuneration for<br />
those top-ups if the card originated<br />
in branch. Over recent months, the<br />
Branch Hub team has delivered even<br />
more innovative capabilities to<br />
branches including hosting<br />
remuneration statements on Branch<br />
Hub, digitising vetting processes and<br />
a full roll-out of Branch Hub on<br />
Horizon – allowing branch teams to<br />
access the platform from the<br />
counter. Use of the platform nearly<br />
doubled compared to last year. With<br />
more postmasters using Branch Hub<br />
than ever before, they now have<br />
access to performance data to help<br />
drive more effective and profitable<br />
branches and this insight can be<br />
used to drive improvements.<br />
What does 2024 hold for<br />
postmasters in terms of new<br />
products and services which will<br />
add to remuneration?<br />
We aim to continue to build on our<br />
multi-carrier mails strategy,<br />
delivering more value to customers<br />
and postmasters. Simultaneously,<br />
we're committed to improving our<br />
current product offerings and<br />
renegotiating some key commercial<br />
contracts. We're also exploring new<br />
products and services that can<br />
seamlessly integrate with our existing<br />
infrastructure, minimising disruption<br />
to the development of our New<br />
Branch IT (NBIT) programme. In the<br />
coming months, we'll conduct some<br />
small-scale trials to establish<br />
commercial viability and ensure<br />
these innovations meet the needs of<br />
<strong>December</strong> <strong>2023</strong> The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> 11
PO Interview<br />
Evri and DPD services are<br />
now available to buy in<br />
post offices<br />
our customers.<br />
In Mails, we expect to build on the<br />
huge progress seen in <strong>2023</strong> where<br />
we have developed many new<br />
customer propositions such as<br />
multi-carrier customer collection,<br />
customer drop off, and customer<br />
return. We have listened and<br />
understood how important Mails is to<br />
postmasters and have moved at pace<br />
with our Mails strategy, which now<br />
sees more than 30,000 non-Royal<br />
Mail access points.<br />
We will continue to build on our<br />
newly launched buy-in-branch<br />
offering, with Evri and DPD delivery<br />
services available to buy over the<br />
counter and expand both the<br />
products and the number<br />
of branches. We aim to<br />
add DPD International<br />
and expand the DHL<br />
offering to many<br />
more locations<br />
across the network,<br />
and we’re discussing<br />
other service<br />
propositions with DHL<br />
too.<br />
We are still working hard<br />
to launch Royal Mail Tracked 24<br />
and Tracked 48 in branch. We plan to<br />
add other carriers and services to<br />
Parcels Online – our online parcel<br />
delivery service – and we’re also<br />
planning developments for Drop &<br />
Go such as adding Evri and DPD.<br />
“Our priority<br />
is making sure<br />
the (Horizon<br />
replacement)<br />
system is fit for<br />
the future”<br />
We aim to develop International<br />
Customs Data Capture (ICDC) with<br />
more features and improvements in<br />
early 2024 and beyond. And we will<br />
continue to work closely with Royal<br />
Mail, our primary carrier partner, to<br />
develop market-leading propositions.<br />
In relation to the changing backoffice<br />
landscape that PUDO is<br />
driving, we are also exploring<br />
opportunities to pay remuneration<br />
for correctly completing key backoffice<br />
activities, as well as looking to<br />
relaunch our operations manual to<br />
share the latest best practice.<br />
Do you feel that the ongoing<br />
inquiry into the Horizon and<br />
bonus gate scandals has<br />
led to a reduction in<br />
both public and<br />
government trust in<br />
PO?<br />
We are committed<br />
to righting the<br />
wrongs of the past<br />
and ensuring those<br />
impacted are<br />
compensated as quickly<br />
as possible. In terms of how<br />
past issues impact trust in PO,<br />
public brand perceptions are stable<br />
overall, although we do<br />
understandably see some ups and<br />
downs in terms of awareness of the<br />
Inquiry and related issues. We track<br />
agreement with a statement ‘Post<br />
Office is a trustworthy brand’. The<br />
October data shows this varied from<br />
c.70% to 73% agreement this year,<br />
which is pretty stable. We also track a<br />
few metrics which point to our role in<br />
communities and supporting people<br />
who need it most. These include ‘I<br />
personally value the role my local<br />
post office plays in my local<br />
community’, which shows a sixmonth<br />
average of 71% agreement.<br />
On government trust, I regularly<br />
meet with MinisterKevin Hollinrake,<br />
and I am encouraged by the support<br />
from government.<br />
Talking of Horizon, what<br />
progress has been made on the<br />
NBIT project? Bearing in mind<br />
postmaster involvement in shaping<br />
many proposed changes to<br />
transaction procedures through<br />
forums, will postmaster<br />
representatives be key in deciding<br />
whether the end result is accurate<br />
and fit for purpose?<br />
We have made considerable<br />
progress with the technical<br />
development and the roll-out<br />
planning for the replacement of<br />
Horizon. Our priority is making sure<br />
the system is fit for the future, and<br />
that the roll-out is as efficient and<br />
effective as possible.<br />
We are in the final stages of testing<br />
for the second phase of our pilot.<br />
Aldwych, London and St John’s,<br />
12<br />
The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> <strong>December</strong> <strong>2023</strong>
Leeds (two DMBs) will again be<br />
involved in this phase, which will<br />
include more features such as core<br />
inland mails and back-office<br />
functions for payment and cash<br />
counting. We maintain regular<br />
contact with our shortlisted pilot<br />
branches. The Postmaster IT working<br />
group, which includes NFSP<br />
executives and members, has also<br />
provided feedback to help inform the<br />
design, build and training of the new<br />
system since June 2021. We’ve held<br />
more than 50 sessions covering a<br />
range of topics, including cash and<br />
stock management, training, and<br />
outreach solutions; and 30 one-toone<br />
sessions with postmasters who<br />
have helped with user experience<br />
testing and provided us with valuable<br />
feedback. More than 150 postmasters<br />
took part in anonymous useability<br />
testing through an online platform.<br />
As we progress through the next<br />
pilot phase and beyond, we’ll invite<br />
postmasters from the working group<br />
to take part in User Acceptance<br />
Testing (UAT) before the system is<br />
rolled out in postmaster branches.<br />
Postmaster volunteers will pilot the<br />
system in all branch types and<br />
provide us with regular feedback,<br />
and the working group sessions will<br />
continue. Throughout this period,<br />
and beyond, we will be engaging<br />
closely with the NFSP.<br />
You have introduced Drop &<br />
Collect with, I understand, the<br />
intention to open 500, by March<br />
2024. How big do you envisage this<br />
model will reach and what<br />
safeguards have you introduced to<br />
ensure no adverse effect on<br />
existing branches?<br />
Drop & Collect was the first new<br />
format launched by Post Office in 10<br />
years. This was in response to a<br />
growing volume of parcels<br />
– a total market of five<br />
billion parcels a year –<br />
and competitors<br />
taking volume away<br />
from post offices.<br />
Since the first Drop<br />
& Collect opening in<br />
October 2021, we<br />
have opened 445 so<br />
far, with more to come.<br />
I understand the<br />
concern and worries of<br />
postmasters when we announce that<br />
a new Drop & Collect is opening near<br />
their branch. It's new and there are<br />
always lessons to learn – we perhaps<br />
could have better handled<br />
communication with nearby<br />
postmasters and better explained<br />
what we are trying to achieve. With<br />
that in mind, we are going to trial a<br />
new way to inform postmasters of<br />
potential openings to get their<br />
feedback before progressing with<br />
onboarding the prospective Drop &<br />
Collect retailer.<br />
It will give us the opportunity to<br />
listen to postmasters' views and<br />
make better informed decisions on<br />
where to open Drop & Collect<br />
branches.<br />
Some postmasters have concerns<br />
that the new Drop & Collect branches<br />
will take business away from their<br />
post office. Let me be clear that so<br />
far, the risk of losing parcel volumes<br />
is coming more from other carrier<br />
competitor locations.<br />
Many of them opened over the<br />
past few years less than a mile or half<br />
a mile from post offices. The aim is to<br />
“The aim is to<br />
take parcel<br />
volumes from<br />
competitor sites –<br />
not existing<br />
post offices”<br />
take parcel volumes from those<br />
competitor sites – not from existing<br />
post offices. It’s not in the interests<br />
of PO or postmasters to see<br />
those volumes move<br />
between our own<br />
branches, and there’s<br />
a minimum distance<br />
a new Drop & Collect<br />
location can be from<br />
existing post offices<br />
– currently half a mile.<br />
We monitor how the<br />
branches are<br />
performing for that<br />
purpose: how the volumes of<br />
parcels progress in the Drop & Collect<br />
branch and the changes observed in<br />
nearby post offices within a mile<br />
distance. So far, we have not seen<br />
evidence of a transfer of trading from<br />
a post office, with one exception<br />
when a post office temporarily<br />
closed.<br />
The Drop & Collect branches also<br />
only offer a limited set of products<br />
– Royal Mail Local Collect and returns<br />
and acceptance of prepaid parcels.<br />
These products in a post office<br />
represent around 5% to 7% of<br />
postmasters' remuneration. The<br />
significant difference is that post<br />
offices process many parcels a week<br />
- several hundred - whereas Drop &<br />
Collect branches are currently<br />
averaging less than 40 parcels a<br />
week.<br />
As customers get used to Drop &<br />
Collect branches, particularly during<br />
this coming peak period, we expect<br />
to see some volumes increase, but<br />
we will continue to monitor volumes<br />
across the network to avoid volumes<br />
migrating between branches.<br />
Finally, with the NFSP we have<br />
Difficult employees: The negative attitude<br />
What are the impacts of negative<br />
attitudes in the workplace and what<br />
strategies can employers put in place<br />
to manage them?<br />
HR:4UK explains what business-owners<br />
can do to remedy the situation.<br />
SCAN<br />
QR CODE<br />
TO READ<br />
MORE*<br />
*You must log into the members’ area of the NFSP website.<br />
<strong>December</strong> <strong>2023</strong> The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> 13
NFSP Community<br />
“It is really<br />
important to<br />
us to have open<br />
dialogue with the<br />
NFSP at<br />
all levels”<br />
14<br />
The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> <strong>December</strong> <strong>2023</strong>
agreed a review panel process for<br />
postmasters to submit a case if they<br />
have evidence of a negative impact<br />
on their trading due to a Drop &<br />
Collect branch opening. We ask<br />
postmasters to wait for six months<br />
after the opening before doing so, to<br />
fully measure any impact.<br />
Whilst you have<br />
introduced Drop &<br />
Collect and Banking<br />
Hubs, do you<br />
include them as<br />
part of the Post<br />
Office Network and<br />
who negotiates their<br />
contracts and<br />
represents their<br />
operators and is responsible<br />
for errors?<br />
Banking Hubs are not counted as<br />
a Post Office format, and they don’t<br />
count towards our network numbers<br />
as they don’t offer a mails service.<br />
They are funded by Cash Action UK.<br />
The service in Banking Hubs comes<br />
in two parts: the physical operation of<br />
the hub itself, and then the<br />
transactions that take place over the<br />
counter. Our banking team has<br />
negotiated an agreement with Cash<br />
Access UK for the physical set-up and<br />
running of the hubs and we give<br />
postmasters the opportunity to run<br />
these, with local postmasters being<br />
asked first. Transactions are governed<br />
under the Banking Framework and<br />
the remuneration is at the normal<br />
Main branch rates. Errors are treated<br />
exactly the same as at a normal Post<br />
Office branch.<br />
Banking Hubs are great<br />
commercial opportunities that<br />
postmasters can apply for if they<br />
would like to. We see lots of interest<br />
and receive great feedback from<br />
postmasters who currently run them<br />
(we refer to them as ‘Banking Hub<br />
Operators’). We currently have nine<br />
Banking Hubs open, and our aim is<br />
to have 30 open by Christmas.<br />
For Drop & Collect, we have agreed<br />
in principle with the NFSP that it<br />
should represent Drop & Collect<br />
operators – as it does with other<br />
branch formats – and we’re working<br />
together to ensure this is reflected in<br />
our formal agreements.<br />
“We believe<br />
the breadth and<br />
expertise of our<br />
network is our<br />
greatest<br />
strength”<br />
With an increased emphasis on<br />
mails following the introduction of<br />
carriers such as DPD, Evri, DHL and<br />
Amazon how many branches will<br />
benefit from the introduction of<br />
these services and will there be an<br />
opportunity to further increase<br />
remuneration by the<br />
addition of other<br />
services?<br />
We now have<br />
around 8,000<br />
branches offering<br />
Amazon services,<br />
4,000 offering DPD<br />
and 2,000 offering<br />
Evri. We believe the<br />
breadth and expertise<br />
of our network is our<br />
greatest strength and will<br />
help us achieve our Mails vision of<br />
unparalleled access for customers,<br />
carriers and postmasters alike.<br />
My teams and I remain focused on<br />
expanding these services to as many<br />
branches as possible. We need to<br />
continue to deliver the safe, reliable<br />
and trusted service we are known for<br />
to ensure we can continue to expand<br />
into more branches. All our carriers<br />
are looking to us to outperform other<br />
access points in their networks on<br />
things like scan adherence and low<br />
customer complaints, so delivering<br />
these will be key to the medium and<br />
long-term success of our new<br />
partnerships.<br />
Our key collective Post Office focus<br />
is making the new products a<br />
commercial and operational success<br />
to allow for further expansion and<br />
further remuneration for<br />
postmasters.<br />
Now that Banking Hubs are<br />
up and running will you<br />
be trialling Parcel Hubs<br />
/ shops purpose<br />
designed to cope<br />
with capturing the<br />
PUDO market?<br />
Drop & Collect<br />
branches are the<br />
equivalent to ‘Parcel<br />
Hubs’. We also want<br />
our existing network of<br />
post offices to grow their<br />
market share in the PUDO<br />
market, to attract more customers<br />
through their doors, as part of our<br />
“I regularly<br />
visit branches. I<br />
find the feedback<br />
from postmasters<br />
incredibly<br />
valuable”<br />
Mails strategy outlined in an earlier<br />
answer.<br />
We listened to postmasters telling<br />
us they want to have the handheld<br />
device in Drop & Collect branches, to<br />
be able to serve customers better<br />
during the retail opening hours at<br />
the retail counter. We are working on<br />
the opportunity to implement a<br />
modular handheld device that will<br />
have the capability to offer bill<br />
payments, PUDO and other simple<br />
products. This is anticipated over the<br />
next two financial years depending<br />
on the discussions on funding that<br />
are currently happening.<br />
Do you feel that you really have<br />
an understanding of what matters<br />
to postmasters? With postmaster<br />
NEDs, the role of the retail<br />
engagement team, the postmaster<br />
experience director, pulse surveys<br />
and regional forums, do you get<br />
conflicting answers?<br />
Yes, with the support of my team, I<br />
believe I have a good handle on what<br />
matters to postmasters. You may<br />
have seen we recently announced<br />
that Mark Eldridge, postmaster at<br />
Great Massingham and Brancaster<br />
branches, is our new postmaster<br />
experience director.<br />
I regularly visit branches myself<br />
– up and down the country, as well as<br />
frequent trips to my local branch –<br />
and find the feedback from<br />
postmasters incredibly valuable.<br />
That’s as well as listening to feedback<br />
from other teams across PO who<br />
spend time directly with<br />
postmasters.<br />
I get updates direct from the field<br />
team on issues that are reported to<br />
them from postmasters,<br />
together with insight from<br />
our Branch Support<br />
Centre colleagues,<br />
regional forums, and<br />
direct senior leader<br />
engagement. I also<br />
receive insight from<br />
the NFSP on any<br />
issues that are raised.<br />
And as a result of the<br />
annual postmaster<br />
research, I have hosted<br />
direct listening sessions with<br />
postmasters including in-person<br />
sessions in Reading and Sheffield,<br />
<strong>December</strong> <strong>2023</strong> The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> 15
PO Interview<br />
Martin Roberts describes<br />
Banking Hubs as ‘great<br />
commercial opportunities’<br />
and one virtually, to understand in<br />
more detail what we need to change<br />
to help improve the relationship we<br />
have with postmasters, which has<br />
resulted in an action plan for the<br />
short, medium and long term.<br />
Postmaster feedback is really<br />
important to me. I take pride in<br />
ensuring that I thoroughly review all<br />
of this insight on a weekly basis to<br />
understand current issues and<br />
concerns, identify any root cause<br />
issues, which are then prioritised to<br />
resolve, and to help inform our<br />
decisions. The feedback we receive<br />
from the various sources tends to be<br />
very similar and is always welcome, to<br />
help inform changes we need to<br />
make to help postmasters run viable<br />
businesses. But of course, while there<br />
are common issues and threads,<br />
every postmaster is different and the<br />
view of one individual may not be the<br />
same as everyone else. Our aim is to<br />
have that holistic view from as many<br />
postmasters as possible.<br />
I’m keen to encourage more direct<br />
senior leader engagement, so look<br />
out for several initiatives where<br />
postmasters will have the<br />
opportunity to listen to and ask<br />
questions of senior leaders in the<br />
near future. Although I understand<br />
the number one priority for<br />
postmasters is to run a viable<br />
business, and we are constantly<br />
looking at ways to increase<br />
remuneration and reduce costs, we<br />
are also conscious that we can be<br />
better in other ways to help improve<br />
operationally.<br />
I would encourage<br />
postmasters to continue<br />
to give feedback and<br />
complete future<br />
postmaster research,<br />
as your input is vital<br />
for us to understand<br />
where we can<br />
improve and increase<br />
the support and<br />
relationship we have<br />
with you.<br />
Would you describe your<br />
relationship with the NFSP as<br />
useful and constructive and adds<br />
to the success of the business?<br />
We have a strong working<br />
relationship with the NFSP – it is<br />
necessarily challenging, but<br />
professional, for the benefit of all<br />
parties.<br />
Many postmasters tell us that they<br />
are unsure of the role of the NFSP<br />
and how it can support them. I’m<br />
therefore keen to help NFSP<br />
communicate with its members<br />
“Postmaster<br />
feedback is really<br />
important to me. I<br />
take pride in<br />
reviewing this<br />
insight”<br />
about what support it can and does<br />
provide. If postmasters have any<br />
issues, they should contact PO first<br />
though, through our normal<br />
channels, but I would encourage<br />
them to contact NFSP if they need<br />
further support or to escalate their<br />
issues.<br />
We have regular meetings to<br />
ensure the NFSP is kept updated and<br />
has the opportunity to comment and<br />
give input to upcoming changes. The<br />
NFSP, rightfully, can give a further<br />
dimension of input, in addition to our<br />
direct postmaster feedback methods,<br />
to help us ensure any planned<br />
larger-scale changes are carefully<br />
thought through, as well as giving us<br />
the opportunity to explain the<br />
rationale for change. My team meets<br />
with the NFSP NET team monthly, as<br />
well as other various internal<br />
departments, such as our security<br />
team and our team who deals with<br />
transaction corrections. There is also<br />
close day-to-day interaction between<br />
us on operational issues that arise.<br />
The NFSP is the only recognised<br />
body who can negotiate<br />
remuneration changes on<br />
postmasters’ behalf, so we work<br />
together to look at how we can best<br />
support increases in<br />
remuneration in a<br />
sustainable way, within<br />
the constraints of any<br />
contract negotiations<br />
we have with thirdparty<br />
suppliers.<br />
We also work<br />
closely with the<br />
NFSP Mails support<br />
team, where we are<br />
seeing improvements in<br />
mails segregation, which<br />
could result in a bonus to all<br />
postmasters at the end of the year if<br />
we hit all three targets. The Mails<br />
support team is also helping<br />
postmasters to maximise the<br />
opportunities PUDO brings.<br />
I meet formally with Calum<br />
Greenhow (NFSP CEO) quarterly and<br />
we have a tripartite meeting with<br />
Minister Hollinrake every quarter. In<br />
addition, Nick Read (our CEO) meets<br />
Calum twice a year.<br />
It is really important to us to have<br />
open dialogue with the NFSP at all<br />
levels.<br />
16<br />
The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> <strong>December</strong> <strong>2023</strong>
NFSP mails support<br />
GETTING MAILS SEGREGATION RIGHT –<br />
LETTER/LARGE LETTER MAIL BAG<br />
This last couple of months have<br />
seen a huge turn around in<br />
compliance performance for the<br />
Letter/Large Letter mail bag with<br />
July and August exceeding target.<br />
As of P7, Agency as a collective is<br />
just 0.4% away from achieving the<br />
Letter/Large Letter mail bag target.<br />
If this level of performance<br />
continues for the remainder of this<br />
financial year you will have the best<br />
opportunity of receiving the<br />
maximum amount of income for<br />
mails segregation. We truly thank<br />
you for all your efforts and support<br />
in ensuring your mail bags are<br />
compliant prior to sending them to<br />
Royal Mail.<br />
Recently, we have made some<br />
changes to the Mails Support Team<br />
and the areas they cover. The table<br />
below shows each team member,<br />
their contact details and the mail<br />
centre areas they cover. Please don’t<br />
hesitate to contact them if you need<br />
any support or have any questions<br />
that relate to mails segregation.<br />
YEAR TO DATE PERFORMANCE TARGET FOR EACH MAILBAG: 95%<br />
1st<br />
Class<br />
Parcel<br />
Letter/<br />
Large<br />
Letter<br />
2nd<br />
Class<br />
Parcel<br />
96.2%<br />
94.6%<br />
95.9%<br />
THE NFSP MAILS SUPPORT TEAM<br />
Name Telephone number Email address Mail centre areas<br />
Alan White 07983 042613 alan.white@nfsp.org.uk Manchester, Nottingham, NW Midlands,<br />
Warrington, Belfast<br />
Anthony Davis 07399 294949 anthony.davis@nfsp.org.uk Romford and Chelmsford<br />
Bhavna Desai 07983 042596 bhavna.desai@nfsp.org.uk Chester (Preston)<br />
Dee Goberdhan 07398 544707 dee.goberdhan@nfsp.org.uk Bristol and Birmingham<br />
Helen Richardson 07984 221823 helen.richardson@nfsp.org.uk Newcastle, Leeds, Sheffield<br />
Naina Ardeshana 07983 042535 naina.ardeshana@nfsp.org.uk Greenford, South Midlands, Swindon<br />
Parimal Bhatt 07398 794019 parimal.bhatt@nfsp.org.uk Home Counties North, Mount Pleasant (Greenford)<br />
Rita Palmer 07983 042526 rita.palmer@nfsp.org.uk Swansea, Cardiff, Exeter, Plymouth, Truro<br />
Stewart Swabey 07398 042533 stewart.swabey@nfsp.org.uk Croydon, Dorset, Jubilee, Medway<br />
Sue Swabey 07398 544691 susan.swabey@nfsp.org.uk Gatwick and Southampton<br />
VACANT Norwich and Peterborough<br />
Vijay Lakhanpal 07983 042553 vijay.lakhanpal@nfsp.org.uk Glagow, Preston, Aberdeen, Carlisle,<br />
Inverness, Edinburgh<br />
20 The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> <strong>December</strong> <strong>2023</strong>
Christmas is generally thought of as a time for giving.<br />
For the Christmas period and next year our aim collectively<br />
is to give the Letter/Large Letter mail bag the best<br />
compliant Christmas and 2024 it has ever experienced. By<br />
doing so and meeting the 95% mails segregation<br />
compliance target, in return in April, it will give you the<br />
best 2024 mails segregation payment ever! Have some fun<br />
completing the wordsearch below.<br />
All words to be found relate to items that shouldn’t be<br />
placed in Letter/Large Letter mail bags. You may even find<br />
that the Mails Support Team have left you a special<br />
seasonal greeting.<br />
O S V G E M L P W Y Z X A N J U W Q T Y C I P V G O S T B J<br />
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A<br />
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Y<br />
W<br />
E<br />
N<br />
Y<br />
P<br />
P<br />
A<br />
H<br />
D<br />
N<br />
A<br />
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A<br />
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C<br />
Y<br />
R<br />
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E<br />
M<br />
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Special delivery<br />
INT tracked and signed for<br />
INT tracked<br />
INT signed for<br />
Franked Meter LLL<br />
PPI<br />
Return to Sender<br />
Parcelforce<br />
Mail left inside mail bag<br />
Incorrect or no label<br />
First class Parcels<br />
Second class Parcels<br />
A seasonal greeting from the Mails Support Team<br />
<strong>December</strong> <strong>2023</strong> The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> 21
NFSP Featured partner<br />
Phone home with AQA<br />
AQA has been the proud technology provider behind the Post Office<br />
UK & International Phone Card for more than 12 years and has recently<br />
announced that the phone cards will now be rebranded as AQA UK &<br />
International Calling Card, and that postmasters will receive an 11%<br />
discount on all phone card orders.<br />
AQA offers low-cost call rates across the world and the phone cards are available<br />
in hundreds of post offices and other retail outlets across the UK.<br />
Who is your market?<br />
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for the unconnected<br />
Classic case: UK residents<br />
calling overseas<br />
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calling home<br />
One off use e.g.<br />
international access to<br />
destination mobiles not<br />
accessible via modern<br />
methods such as WhatsApp<br />
or FaceTime<br />
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use a smartphone – physical<br />
or other disabilities but is<br />
able to use standard phone<br />
Cards are used by care<br />
homes, NHS patients and<br />
boarding schools.<br />
Main advantages<br />
Good for everyone<br />
Simple operation<br />
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ready to run from any<br />
landline or mobile – instant<br />
use<br />
Simple cost structure<br />
No connection fee and no<br />
hidden charges<br />
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calls and free calls to<br />
selected destinations on<br />
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cost (e.g. weekend calls to<br />
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For more information visit:<br />
HOW TO<br />
ORDER<br />
www.aqatelecom.com/webstore<br />
Visit www.<br />
aqatelecom.com/<br />
webstore<br />
Click on the side menu<br />
– Calling Cards<br />
Wholesale.<br />
Phone cards are<br />
available in three<br />
denominations, £5, £10<br />
and £20, with a<br />
minimum order of £150.<br />
To activate the 11%<br />
discount (which has<br />
increased from 7%),<br />
postmasters need to<br />
enter the offer code<br />
nfspm23.<br />
Payment can be made<br />
through credit or debit<br />
card, bank transfer or<br />
Google Pay.<br />
All cards will be<br />
activated…. for<br />
immediate use*.<br />
Once ordered the<br />
cards will be dispatched<br />
within two days.<br />
the first 60 minutes)<br />
Trusted organisation<br />
(Post Office) compared to<br />
“any-brand” cards<br />
End-user support for any<br />
issues.<br />
“Post Offices are one of the very few places where customers can buy phone cards and, therefore, this<br />
is an essential service for postmasters to offer their customers. Many communities rely on being able to<br />
easily access these cards and your office can play an important role in providing this help to your local<br />
community.<br />
With an 11% discount at the point of sale for postmasters, this also offers a commercial revenue<br />
opportunity and an opportunity to increase your footfall. AQA’s experience is that once customers buy<br />
from you there is a very high rate of repeat sales. We are delighted to be working with AQA and we<br />
would encourage members to look to add this product to their current retail offer. ”<br />
Robert Clack NFSP Director of Retail and Commercial.<br />
*AQA callings cards will be delivered as ‘Active’ status instead of ‘Pre-Activated’, so that postmasters do not need to call for activation,<br />
they can start selling the cards immediately.<br />
22<br />
The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> <strong>December</strong> <strong>2023</strong>
NFSP customer support<br />
SUPPORTING OUR<br />
AUTISTIC CUSTOMERS<br />
Following on from our campaign to make<br />
post offices a better place for customers living<br />
with dementia, Christine Donnelly, NFSP Non-<br />
Executive Director, wanted to do something<br />
similar for our autistic customers<br />
s with dementia, autism<br />
A<br />
takes many forms, so this<br />
can only be a very general<br />
guide.<br />
Autism affects adults and children<br />
of all ages.<br />
There are an estimated 700,000<br />
autistic people in the UK. I would like<br />
post offices to become a place that<br />
autistic people and their carers look<br />
forward to visiting.<br />
Not all offices can do everything<br />
suggested, but you may be able to do<br />
some or a variation. For example,<br />
bright lights can be a problem, so big<br />
stores and shopping centres can have<br />
dim areas. I have a<br />
small shop, but if I<br />
see someone<br />
clearly distressed, I<br />
can turn down<br />
some of the lights<br />
while they are in<br />
the shop.<br />
Look out for the<br />
Sunflower Lanyard,<br />
this is an indicator that<br />
someone has a hidden<br />
disability.<br />
Stimming is a repetitive action, like<br />
tapping fingers together on a surface<br />
or flapping hands. This can be a<br />
“I would like<br />
post offices to<br />
become a place<br />
that autistic people<br />
and their carers<br />
look forward to<br />
visiting”<br />
stress indicator or something they<br />
enjoy doing.<br />
Wearing or carrying ear defenders<br />
often signifies a problem with excess<br />
noise and may be a sign the<br />
customer is autistic. Try to talk in<br />
short sentences with pauses, speak<br />
more slowly and give processing time<br />
before repeating yourself.<br />
Use a person’s name if you know it,<br />
so they know you are talking to them.<br />
Waiting in a queue can be very<br />
stressful, if you have a spare counter<br />
call them over. In my case with a<br />
single counter just say to the next<br />
person in the queue “I would like to<br />
serve this person first” – you don’t<br />
have to say why.<br />
Have a couple of fidget spinners or<br />
stress balls on the counter or a notice<br />
saying they are available. Some<br />
outlets offer stress packs with a<br />
selection of items including ear<br />
defenders – but do make sure you<br />
clean items after every use.<br />
Familiarity can be important. Have<br />
photographs of your shop interior on<br />
your social media, especially the first<br />
view as you enter the shop, then the<br />
actual counter where purchases are<br />
made.<br />
Don’t be afraid to talk to a regular<br />
customer, parent or carer about what<br />
you can do to help. Choose a<br />
moment when the shop is quiet, and<br />
they seem to be on good form and<br />
ask if there is anything you can do to<br />
make difficult days easier.<br />
Talk to your staff, tell them what<br />
you are doing and why, they may<br />
have good suggestions.<br />
Employment is a huge<br />
issue for autistic people.<br />
They might struggle<br />
with a conventional<br />
application but<br />
with a little extra<br />
thought about the<br />
process, the<br />
training, and the<br />
job itself, you could<br />
really do something<br />
great.<br />
Finally, if you have an<br />
employee who has an<br />
autistic family member talk to them<br />
about it.<br />
They may need leeway to help<br />
them manage their life.<br />
24<br />
The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> <strong>December</strong> <strong>2023</strong>
NFSP Member Survey<br />
NETWORK<br />
UPDATE<br />
Results from the September and October<br />
member survey and directors’ log.<br />
The remuneration survey is one of the main connectors<br />
between the NFSP and its membership. We ask that you<br />
continue to fill out the surveys as often as you can, as they<br />
help the NFSP confidently and accurately share this data<br />
when engaging with Post Office Ltd and beyond.<br />
REMUNERATION:<br />
year on year comparison<br />
35%<br />
PO remuneration in<br />
comparison to 2022<br />
35% of respondents say<br />
that remuneration is<br />
down by 11-20%<br />
21%<br />
Retail remuneration<br />
in comparison to 2022<br />
21% of respondents<br />
say remuneration is<br />
up by 1-10%<br />
BEST SELLING IN POST OFFICE<br />
Business and consumer banking<br />
Collections & returns<br />
Special delivery<br />
TOP<br />
POSTMASTERS<br />
ISSUES VIA<br />
THE MONTHLY<br />
SURVEY<br />
TOP<br />
POSTMASTERS<br />
ISSUES IN THE<br />
DIRECTORS’<br />
CALL LOG:<br />
Q<br />
For<br />
Q<br />
The<br />
those providing Evri/DPD, do<br />
you require support to capture<br />
this market in your local area?<br />
YES<br />
75%<br />
YES<br />
89%<br />
Low footfall<br />
Low remuneration<br />
Online competition<br />
Escalating costs<br />
Discrepancies<br />
Health<br />
Contract<br />
Transfer<br />
NO<br />
25%<br />
NFSP believes all<br />
postmasters should be able to<br />
provide Amazon, DPD and Evri<br />
alongside Royal Mail, do you<br />
agree?<br />
NO<br />
11%<br />
Q<br />
Postmasters who have Evri/DPD, are the volumes:<br />
Above<br />
anticipated<br />
As<br />
anticipated<br />
Lower than<br />
anticipated<br />
13%<br />
32%<br />
58%<br />
<strong>December</strong> <strong>2023</strong> The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> 25
NFSP Featured partner<br />
Award-winning Kingfisher<br />
flies in as a new partner<br />
ingfisher Cards<br />
K<br />
Ltd is excited to<br />
be working with<br />
the NFSP as a<br />
new retail partner. Kingfisher<br />
Cards offers one of the<br />
widest ranges of great value<br />
greeting cards available. Not<br />
only are they designed and<br />
produced in the UK, but they<br />
offer unrivalled quality for the<br />
price.<br />
Winner of two Henries<br />
Awards, the ultimate<br />
accolade in greeting card<br />
publishing, in the last three<br />
years, Kingfisher brings<br />
beautiful cards with great<br />
profit margins to members.<br />
With a special discount<br />
offer for NFSP members,<br />
retailers can expect markups<br />
of over 150%, full sale or<br />
return on all seasonal<br />
product, and three special<br />
new product package offers<br />
per year, to raise margins<br />
even further. All orders are<br />
dispatched same day from<br />
Kingfisher’s Devon-based<br />
warehouse.<br />
With a simple to use<br />
website, retailers can order<br />
easily online or request a call<br />
from one of Kingfisher’s<br />
agents. Kingfisher Cards can<br />
individually cello-wrap cards<br />
and carriage paid orders are<br />
only £100.<br />
GET IN TOUCH<br />
For more information, or to order, visit www.kingfishercards.co.uk<br />
To request the latest catalogue, email sales@kingfishercards.co.uk<br />
Contact Paul on 01803 431515 with any questions.<br />
PRODUCTS<br />
ARE:<br />
Award-winning<br />
Designed and<br />
produced in the UK<br />
Great value<br />
High quality<br />
NFSP MEMBER<br />
BENEFITS:<br />
Special discount<br />
Mark-ups of<br />
over 150%<br />
Three special offers<br />
per year<br />
Same day dispatch<br />
26<br />
The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> <strong>December</strong> <strong>2023</strong>
The NET update<br />
LATEST UPDATE<br />
FROM THE NET<br />
The NFSP Negotiating and Engagement Team (NET) are<br />
back with another update of the current issues across the<br />
network and the work it does to address them.<br />
PROJECT COPPERSTOP<br />
The rollout by Openreach of Project<br />
Copperstop continues. Post Office Ltd<br />
(PO) was hoping to have 200 sites<br />
completed by mid-November and the<br />
rollout will recommence again after<br />
Christmas with the aim of completing<br />
about 500 sites per month.<br />
Communications will be sent to<br />
postmasters and the information<br />
will be uploaded on to Branch Hub.<br />
Each branch should also receive a<br />
phone call confirming the date of<br />
attendance by Openreach engineers.<br />
Please make sure that you and your<br />
staff know the expected dates, so this<br />
changeover goes smoothly.<br />
Please also remember to order your<br />
new VOIP phone prior to changeover.<br />
TRAINING CATALOGUE ACCESS<br />
AND SUPPORT MATERIAL<br />
A variety of training modules are now available via Branch Hub<br />
and also through postoffice.learning.uk.com<br />
There is also availability for individual product training through<br />
the training catalogue on www.onepostoffice.co.uk<br />
If you need any further assistance, please contact your Area<br />
Manager who can help.<br />
For help and advice with network support issues please<br />
call the NFSP Helpline on 01273 452324 or send an<br />
email to admin@nfsp.org.uk<br />
NI MAILS<br />
ISSUES<br />
PO has fortnightly calls<br />
with the Northern Ireland<br />
Area and regional<br />
managers around customs<br />
issues and the number of<br />
items being returned in<br />
error.<br />
We are aware that there<br />
have also been instances<br />
where customers needed<br />
to make their own claims<br />
and Royal Mail customer<br />
service were advising<br />
incorrectly as to the<br />
process to be followed. We<br />
are raising these issues on a<br />
monthly basis with PO.<br />
Would stickers help<br />
protect from international<br />
returns?<br />
PO is going to raise<br />
again with the Royal Mail<br />
International team.<br />
DROP AND<br />
COLLECT UPDATE<br />
We have now reached<br />
agreement with PO to instigate a<br />
panel with specific terms of<br />
reference to review, where<br />
appropriate, offices who believe<br />
they have been impacted by a<br />
nearby opening of a Drop and<br />
Collect outlet.<br />
Whilst we are aware that there<br />
are nearly 500 of these outlets<br />
now open, very few of these are<br />
having any impact on existing<br />
offices. However, we want to<br />
ensure that any postmaster<br />
who has raised a concern either<br />
through PO or the NFSP has the<br />
ability to request the panel to<br />
review the situation after the new<br />
Drop and Collect has been open<br />
for six months.<br />
28<br />
The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> <strong>December</strong> <strong>2023</strong>
Your letters<br />
MAILBOX<br />
Your letters answered by Post Office Ltd<br />
and Jon Follenfant, NFSP Members’ Editor<br />
How can community<br />
branches communicate?<br />
ear Editor,<br />
D<br />
I very rarely see<br />
or read anything<br />
about<br />
community post offices,<br />
which like mine are only<br />
open a few hours a week,<br />
are vital and essential to<br />
the local community,<br />
especially for banking<br />
services, yet must be costly<br />
for Post Office Ltd (PO) to<br />
run.<br />
I don’t even know how<br />
many there are?<br />
My question is about<br />
access to Branch Hub, Post<br />
Office emails, and anything<br />
else that requires online<br />
communication for the<br />
subpostmaster of a<br />
community post office.<br />
I don’t earn enough from<br />
my community post office<br />
(six hours per week) to<br />
provide a separate<br />
smartphone/laptop access<br />
to PO online information<br />
and I certainly should not<br />
be accessing this from a<br />
shared computer at any of<br />
my other places of work.<br />
However, this is exactly<br />
what I have to do in order<br />
to access or log-in to any of<br />
the above.<br />
Is there a solution for<br />
Ben Fund quarter page horizontal ad.pdf 8 10/03/<strong>2023</strong> 18:13<br />
community post offices?<br />
Anita Clements<br />
Postmaster<br />
South Scarle Community<br />
Post Office<br />
POST OFFICE REPLIES<br />
Alex Burrell, Head of<br />
Postmaster<br />
Communications, writes:<br />
Thank you for your letter,<br />
Anita, about online and<br />
email communications.<br />
More than 9,600 people<br />
from all sorts of branches<br />
have subscribed to receive<br />
Post Office email<br />
communications such as<br />
the weekly Postmaster<br />
email and Branch Focus.<br />
C<br />
M<br />
Y<br />
CM<br />
MY<br />
CY<br />
CMY<br />
K<br />
NFSP<br />
Benevolent Fund<br />
To request an application form contact NFSP<br />
Headquarters on 01273 452324 or email<br />
benfund@nfsp.org.uk<br />
For further information please visit www.nfsp.org.uk<br />
All our work is carried out in total confidence.<br />
The Fund does not cover business related issues.<br />
Helping postmasters<br />
and their families<br />
in times of need<br />
Registered charity 262704<br />
30<br />
The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> <strong>December</strong> <strong>2023</strong>
When a postmaster or<br />
team member registers for<br />
Branch Hub, they have the<br />
opportunity to opt in to<br />
receive our<br />
communications, such as<br />
branch messaging,<br />
Memoviews and Branch<br />
Focus. We use this data to<br />
send the weekly email<br />
to postmasters<br />
too. Registered<br />
users can opt<br />
in and opt<br />
out of<br />
receiving<br />
these at any<br />
time and<br />
certain<br />
updates such as<br />
product changes<br />
are sent only to the<br />
relevant branches. If you’re<br />
not receiving the<br />
communications that you<br />
expect, please check to<br />
make sure you have opted<br />
in.<br />
Branch Focus is now also<br />
published on Branch Hub,<br />
as well as by email as<br />
mentioned above and on<br />
Horizon – providing three<br />
different ways for<br />
postmasters and their<br />
teams to access this<br />
information.<br />
We’ve also just started<br />
rolling Branch Hub out on<br />
Horizon.<br />
You’ll have seen Branch<br />
Hub become much more<br />
of a ‘one-stop shop’ for<br />
useful information,<br />
“Branch Hub<br />
can be accessed<br />
any time that’s<br />
convenient, not<br />
just while in<br />
branch ”<br />
processes and<br />
communications. Branch<br />
Hub can be accessed any<br />
time that’s convenient, not<br />
just while in branch,<br />
including through a<br />
mobile app. On the app,<br />
you can also set your<br />
notification preferences to<br />
get emails or app<br />
notifications for<br />
important<br />
Memoview<br />
updates.<br />
If you don’t<br />
already have<br />
the app, you<br />
can<br />
download it by<br />
searching for<br />
‘Branch Hub’ in<br />
either the Apple store or<br />
Google Play and tap to<br />
download it to your phone.<br />
Once the app has been<br />
installed, type in<br />
branchhub.postoffice.<br />
co.uk when prompted to<br />
enter the instance<br />
address. Then tap ‘Save’<br />
and then “Continue to<br />
Branch Hub” to start<br />
enjoying the mobile app.<br />
If we need to send urgent<br />
communications about an<br />
issue that impacts<br />
branches’ trading, we send<br />
a Memoview which, as you<br />
know, pops up on Horizon<br />
in the branches it’s sent to,<br />
so everyone working in the<br />
branch would see it.<br />
Postmasters don’t need<br />
to buy a separate device to<br />
view PO communications<br />
and all of the<br />
communications outlined<br />
here are for all<br />
postmasters, whatever<br />
their branch type.<br />
There are currently<br />
around 1,800 traditional<br />
format branches in the<br />
Post Office network.<br />
MEMBERS’ EDITOR<br />
REPLIES<br />
Many thanks to Anita<br />
Clements for her letter and<br />
to Alex Burrell for PO’s<br />
thoughts on the matter of<br />
Post Office<br />
The members editor would welcome your letters, e-mails or<br />
messages. You can contact us by post or email.<br />
Send a letter to:<br />
<strong>SubPostmaster</strong> Magazine Letters<br />
Evelyn House<br />
22 Windlesham Gardens<br />
Shoreham-by-Sea<br />
BN43 5AZ<br />
Tel: 01273 452324<br />
e-mail: thesubpostmaster@nfsp.org.uk<br />
communications to its<br />
postmasters. I agree with<br />
Anita that we don’t often<br />
hear from community post<br />
offices who, after all,<br />
comprise over 15% of the<br />
physical Post Office<br />
network. Whilst I see the<br />
cost savings and<br />
immediacy that the use of<br />
digital communications<br />
brings to the business I do<br />
miss the weekly print<br />
versions of Branch Focus<br />
that could be shared and<br />
read and initialled by all<br />
staff members and put to<br />
one side for those away<br />
from branch to read later.<br />
Notwithstanding what<br />
Alex Burrell writes about<br />
postmasters not needing<br />
access to their own digital<br />
devices I would hazard a<br />
guess that the majority<br />
access post office<br />
communications on their<br />
own smart phone, tablet or<br />
PC. As for trying to find<br />
information on Horizon – I<br />
gave up long ago!<br />
<strong>December</strong> <strong>2023</strong> The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> 31
Helpline and press option 1.<br />
Retail Support quarter page horizontal Ad.pdf 10 14/11/<strong>2023</strong> 18:49<br />
Member NFSP Directory member benefits<br />
GET THE MOST FROM<br />
YOUR BENEFITS YOUR MEMBERSHIP<br />
FOR ANY PROBLEM OR ISSUE RELATED TO RUNNING A POST OFFICE<br />
PLEASE CALL THE NFSP HELPLINE – 01273 452324<br />
BENEVOLENT<br />
FUND<br />
An independent registered<br />
charity helping past and present<br />
postmasters and their families, in their<br />
time of need.<br />
Visit nfsp.org.uk or email<br />
benfund@nfsp.org.uk<br />
DISCOUNTS<br />
WITH NFSP+<br />
From phones and mobile<br />
devices to shopping and<br />
supermarket discounts, to<br />
car maintenance and<br />
travel. Scan the QR Code for great deals on<br />
fantastic products and services from<br />
NFSP+.<br />
EMPLOYMENT<br />
HELPLINE<br />
Support with managing your<br />
staff and HR advice in partnership with<br />
HR:4UK.<br />
Call 01273 452324 and press option 1.<br />
FREE<br />
INSURANCE<br />
NFSP free insurance<br />
policies cover members<br />
from tax and VAT<br />
investigations and<br />
personal ID theft. Call the helpline or scan<br />
the QR code to find out more or make a<br />
claim.<br />
HEALTH AND<br />
WELLBEING<br />
Free access to health and<br />
wellbeing support services including a<br />
24-hour helpline with qualified<br />
counsellors, bereavement support and<br />
medical information. Visit NFSP+ via the<br />
QR Code (above) to find out more.<br />
LEGAL<br />
HELPLINE<br />
Free advice on legal matters<br />
related to your business. Call Lyons<br />
Davidson Solicitors on 01172 442 794 and<br />
quote NFSP.<br />
MEMBER<br />
REPRESENTATION<br />
Our Network and Engagement<br />
Team represent postmasters in<br />
negotiations with Post Office Ltd and<br />
support members with contractual issues<br />
and difficulties. Call the Helpline or email<br />
admin@nfsp.org.uk<br />
Public Affairs represent postmasters in<br />
discussions with MPs and external<br />
stakeholders.<br />
Visit bit.ly/NFSPPublicAffairs for the latest<br />
campaign information or get involved by<br />
contacting our Public Affairs Manager<br />
ruth.buckley-salmon@nfsp.org.uk<br />
POST OFFICE<br />
SUPPORT<br />
For expert Mails and Mails<br />
Segregation compliance support from<br />
your regional Mails Support Advisor email<br />
mailssupport@nfsp.org.uk<br />
RETAIL<br />
PARTNERS<br />
Tap into our hand-picked<br />
list of retail partners<br />
offering exclusive deals to<br />
NFSP members. View the<br />
full list via the QR Code or visit nfsp.org.<br />
uk/retail-partner<br />
RELIEF<br />
SCHEME<br />
For cover when you need time<br />
away from your business. Our Relief<br />
Scheme, in partnership with HR:4UK, is<br />
available for NFSP members. Call the<br />
RETAIL SUPPORT<br />
ADVISOR<br />
Free personalised retail health<br />
checks via store visits or video calls. Advice<br />
on the best products to stock and much<br />
more. Call Amanda Pedley on 01273<br />
452324 or email retail@nfsp.org.uk<br />
YOUR<br />
REGION<br />
Each region in the UK has a<br />
thriving NFSP community led by Branch<br />
and Regional Secretaries who also run<br />
post offices. These representatives are<br />
there to provide advice and support with<br />
post office issues. They also organise<br />
online and face-to-face meetings for<br />
sharing your views and helping to steer<br />
the direction of the NFSP.<br />
Not sure who is your Branch or Regional<br />
Secretary? Call the helpline or e-mail<br />
communications@nfsp.org.uk<br />
STAY CONNECTED<br />
NFSP Weekly Newsletter<br />
– The latest news and<br />
information from the<br />
NFSP plus great retail<br />
offers.<br />
Regional WhatsApp Groups – Chat with<br />
postmasters in your area, stay across the<br />
latest breaking news.<br />
Exclusive NFSP Members’ Website – An<br />
essential resource with news, toolkits,<br />
information and advice covering the<br />
entire spectrum of running a post office<br />
and retail business.<br />
Private Facebook Group – Share your<br />
views with other members:<br />
Facebook.com/groups/NFSPmembers<br />
To access these services contact<br />
communications@nfsp.org.uk<br />
C<br />
NFSP Retail Support Programme<br />
M<br />
Y<br />
CM<br />
MY<br />
CY<br />
CMY<br />
K<br />
Sign up for a FREE personalised Retail Health Check, with<br />
Amanda Pedley, NFSP Senior Retail Advisor.<br />
Available via store visits or video call.<br />
This service is FREE to all NFSP members.<br />
Get in touch by scanning the QR code or call 01273 452324.<br />
<strong>December</strong> <strong>2023</strong> The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> 33
Planning ahead<br />
PERFECT<br />
PLANNING<br />
Another year almost gone, and the next one on the<br />
horizon means it is time to do some yearly retail<br />
preparation. As postmasters, we are always busy, but it is<br />
important to take time in January and do some basics we<br />
sometimes forget.<br />
PREPARE FOR THE YEAR AHEAD<br />
Changing and restocking your shelves and<br />
tidying up your retail displays is a great way to<br />
add interest and increase sales.<br />
Look at what you have left in your inventory<br />
and how it has performed. If it did not do well,<br />
mark it down, organise a January sale and get<br />
rid of it. See footfall increase and that old<br />
stock disappear!<br />
GUESS<br />
WHO?<br />
Valentine’s Day on<br />
Wednesday 14<br />
February is an<br />
important day in<br />
the greeting card<br />
calendar, as millions<br />
of Valentine’s cards<br />
are posted out to loved ones. Make<br />
sure you have an attractive display up<br />
from mid-January.<br />
TOP<br />
TIP<br />
Why not create a<br />
Valentine’s window display<br />
to promote your stock and<br />
attract new customers<br />
through your door?<br />
TOP<br />
TIP<br />
NFSP 2024<br />
WALL PLANNER<br />
Putting together<br />
one single display<br />
of sale items tends<br />
to be more<br />
impactful than<br />
when sale items<br />
are spread around<br />
the store.<br />
SEE YOUR<br />
BRANCH<br />
THROUGH<br />
SOMEONE<br />
ELSE’S EYES<br />
Walk your store with<br />
someone who<br />
doesn’t work there<br />
and get their opinion<br />
on what they like or<br />
do not like within the<br />
space. A new set of<br />
eyes and opinions<br />
keeps things fresh.<br />
Find our free Wall Planner with this<br />
edition of The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong>,<br />
including all the important upcoming<br />
events and holidays, plus advice on<br />
when to begin stocking your retail. It is<br />
also a great tool for you to use to keep<br />
track of any important dates that<br />
affect your post office business.<br />
MOTHER’S DAY<br />
Mother’s Day is also coming up fast.<br />
Tuesday 19 March is the second most<br />
important card sales date of the year<br />
and is a valuable day for card<br />
retailers. Think about stocking<br />
Mother’s Day cards from the end of<br />
February for maximum profit time.<br />
Our NFSP partners have a fantastic<br />
range of greeting card options for<br />
you to explore.<br />
Click the<br />
QR code<br />
to find<br />
out more<br />
A SPRINGBOARD<br />
FOR SUCCESS<br />
Have you visited Spring Fair<br />
yet? The NEC Spring Fair is<br />
taking place from Sunday 4<br />
to Wednesday 7 February<br />
and offers a diverse,<br />
relevant and exciting<br />
marketplace for wholesale<br />
home, gift and fashion.<br />
Covering 14 product sectors,<br />
the variety of products at<br />
Spring Fair is unmatched<br />
and a great way to source<br />
the newest and most<br />
innovative products in UK<br />
retail. Plus, it provides the<br />
perfect platform to network<br />
with new and existing<br />
contacts in person, enabling<br />
long-lasting connections to<br />
be made.<br />
Why not<br />
contact<br />
Amanda<br />
Pedley, NFSP<br />
Senior Retail<br />
Advisor, who<br />
can offer a free<br />
personalised<br />
Retail Health Check via store<br />
visits or video call. Get in touch<br />
with Amanda today, by<br />
phoning 01273 452324 or by<br />
clicking on the QR code.<br />
34<br />
The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> <strong>December</strong> <strong>2023</strong>
NFSP RETAIL PARTNERS<br />
ACCESSORIES<br />
Emelia Accessories<br />
024 7632 6198<br />
sales@emeliaaccessories.co.uk<br />
www.emeliaaccessories.co.uk<br />
ATM<br />
Cashzone<br />
01707 632839<br />
sales@cashzone.co.uk<br />
www.cashzone.co.uk<br />
BALLOONS/PARTY<br />
Amscan<br />
07764 560615<br />
tholness@amscan-uk.co.uk<br />
www.amscan.co.uk<br />
BOOKS<br />
The Cut-Price Bookstore<br />
01482 866695<br />
sales@cutpricebookstore.co.uk<br />
www.cutpricebookstore.co.uk/<br />
nfsp<br />
BUSINESS TRANSFER<br />
Humberstones<br />
0800 731 8340<br />
jp@humberstones.co.uk<br />
www.humberstones.co.uk<br />
CALENDARS<br />
Unique Calendar Company<br />
01935 823241<br />
mike.ucc@btinternet.com<br />
www.unique-calendar.co.uk<br />
CASH COUNTING<br />
Safescan<br />
01233 645645<br />
info@safescan.com<br />
www.safescan.com/nfsp<br />
Tellermate Ltd<br />
01633 637123<br />
sales.uk@tellermate.com<br />
info.tellermate.com/nfsp<br />
CONVENIENCE<br />
Bobby's Foods<br />
07483 120462<br />
sally.malpass@bobbysfoods.co.uk<br />
www.bobbysfoods.co.uk<br />
Snappy Shopper<br />
0333 900 1250<br />
inbound@snappyshopper.co.uk<br />
FIXTURES & FITTINGS<br />
DoubleCOOL UK Ltd<br />
01283 586028<br />
zcolman@doublecooluk.com<br />
www.doublecooluk.com<br />
GIFTWARE<br />
History & Heraldry<br />
01709 730700<br />
postoffice@historyheraldry.com<br />
www.historyheraldry.com/<br />
postoffice<br />
Global Journey<br />
0161 872 0333<br />
isamuels@global-journey.com<br />
www.globaljourney.co.uk<br />
Essentially<br />
01676 542542<br />
sales@emeliaaccessories.co.uk<br />
www.emeliaaccessories.co.uk<br />
GREETING CARDS<br />
Bug Art<br />
0115 929 4776<br />
enquiries@bugart.co.uk<br />
www.bugart.co.uk<br />
Cherry Orchard Publishing<br />
01684 295500<br />
info@cherryorchardpublishing.<br />
co.uk<br />
www.cherryorchardpublishing.<br />
co.uk<br />
Christine Gardner Design<br />
07763 123631<br />
hello@christinegardner.co.uk<br />
www.christinegardner.co.uk<br />
Emotional Rescue<br />
01942 233201<br />
hello@erescue.co.uk<br />
www.emotional-rescue.com<br />
The Great British Card<br />
Company<br />
01452 888999<br />
hello@greatbritishcards.co.uk<br />
www.greatbritishcards.co.uk<br />
Into the Green Publishing<br />
0800 529 8790 / 07795 957995<br />
pete.r@intothegreenpublishing.<br />
com<br />
www.intothegreenpublishing.com<br />
Kingfisher Cards Ltd<br />
01803 431515<br />
sales@kingfishercards.co.uk<br />
www.kingfishercards.co.uk<br />
Noel Tatt<br />
01227 811600<br />
sales@noeltatt.co.uk<br />
www.noeltatt.co.uk<br />
Otter House Ltd<br />
01392 824300<br />
sales@otterhouse.co.uk<br />
www.otterhouse.co.uk<br />
Words 'n' Wishes Ltd<br />
01942 233201<br />
alison@words-n-wishes.co.uk<br />
www.words-n-wishes.co.uk<br />
HOME STAIRLIFTS<br />
Acorn Stairlifts<br />
0800 073 9850<br />
srichardson@acornstairlifts.com<br />
www.uk.acornpartner.com<br />
INSURANCE<br />
UKGlobal Chester Ltd<br />
01244 566206<br />
steve.jones@ukglobalgroup.co.uk<br />
www.ukglobalgroup.co.uk<br />
MERCHANT SERVICES<br />
Handepay<br />
Merchant Services<br />
0800 377 7382<br />
michael.liposits@handepay.co.uk<br />
www.handepay.co.uk<br />
SumUp<br />
www.sumup.co.uk/nfsp<br />
MOBILE PHONE<br />
ACCESSORIES<br />
Mr Mobile<br />
0161 745 2210<br />
sales@mrmobileuk.com<br />
www.mrmobileuk.com<br />
PACKAGING AND<br />
STATIONERY<br />
IPS Retail<br />
01923 639800<br />
sales@ipsretail.co.uk<br />
www.ipsretail.co.uk<br />
PASSPORT AND<br />
ID SYSTEMS<br />
Swains International Ltd<br />
01485 536200<br />
sales@swains.co.uk<br />
www.swains.co.uk<br />
PHONE CARDS<br />
AQA UK & International<br />
Calling Cards<br />
0203 384 5961<br />
pocs@aqatelecom.com<br />
www.aqatelecom.com<br />
PHOTOGRAPHY<br />
AND PHOTOBOOTHS<br />
Facebox<br />
07973 561514<br />
d.antell@btinternet.com<br />
www.face-box.co.uk<br />
READING GLASSES<br />
Readyspex<br />
01963 440800<br />
telesales@peerltd.co.uk<br />
www.readyspex.co.uk<br />
SLUSH MACHINES<br />
Snowshock Ltd<br />
0330 053 6132<br />
sales@snowshock.co.uk<br />
www.snowshock.com<br />
TRANSPORT<br />
Affinity Vehicle Leasing<br />
0800 060 7070<br />
info@affinity4u.co.uk<br />
www.affinity4u.co.uk<br />
UTILITIES<br />
Love Energy Savings<br />
0203 903 9660<br />
info@loveenergysavings.com<br />
www.loveenergysavings.com<br />
VAPING<br />
Vapouriz<br />
0800 644 0000<br />
nfsp@vapouriz.com<br />
www.vapouriz.co.uk<br />
WASTE MANAGEMENT<br />
1st Waste Management<br />
07754 553307<br />
j.jordan@1stwaste.co.uk<br />
www.1stwaste.co.uk<br />
www.retailers.snappyshopper.co.uk<br />
<strong>December</strong> <strong>2023</strong> The <strong>SubPostmaster</strong> 35