Royal Mail has announced its plan to open thousands of branches across the UK for the first time ever in a major £43.9million deal.
As part of this deal, around 8,000 Collect+ convenience stores will be rebranded as Royal Mail shops, which will be open for collecting, sending and returning parcels.
On top of this, these branches will sell Royal Mail postage for the first time and will have extended opening hours, which will include evenings and weekends.
This expansion comes as Royal Mail’s owner International Distribution Services announced it had acquired a 49 per cent stake in Collect+ with a £43.9million investment.
The 67-year-old has said she is yet to receive an apology directly from Royal Mail after the incident | PA Alistair Cochrane, Royal Mail’s chief executive, said: “The launch of the Royal Mail Shop brand creates a new and improved high street destination for all of our customers’ parcel needs in one location.
"This investment is one of the ways we’re making Royal Mail more convenient."
As it stands, Collect+ stores allow customers to drop off or pick up parcels at more than 13,000 locations across the country.
These locations are usually located in supermarkets, petrol stations, newsagents and convenience stores.
Recently, IDS published financial results which revealed that that the postal service reported £12million in earnings for the year to March 31, excluding redundancy costs.
This represents a significant turnaround from last year's £336million loss for Royal Mail, however the firm is still working its way out of an operating loss of £8million.
During the summer, the postal service company launched a cost-cutting initiative, which saw second class letters delivered on alternate weekdays and not on Saturdays.
Under previous rules, Royal Mail had to deliver letters and deliveries six days a week, from Monday to Saturday, and also needed to drop off parcels on five days from Monday to Friday.
Britons have been forced to contend with the threat of Post Office branch closures
| POST OFFICEOfcom, the industry's regulator, determined an overhaul to operations was essential as stamp prices have been increasing and the cost of delivering letters has gone up.
As a result, Britons should expect first class mail to land on doorsteps six days a week as usual, but second-class deliveries will be impacted.
When this change was announced in July, the post service firm confirmed it would be trialling the change in operations across 37 of its 1,200 delivery offices.
At the time, Emma Gilthorpe, the chief executive officer, Royal Mail said: “Ofcom has recognised the urgent need for change so that the future of the Universal Service can be protected for all.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Britons may see a change to Royal Mail delivery services in the near future | GETTY"Our proposal was developed after speaking to thousands of people across the country and is designed to preserve what matters most for our customers - maintaining a one-price-goes-anywhere service to 32 million UK addresses and First Class deliveries six days a week.
"As Ofcom’s analysis shows, it is no longer financially sustainable to maintain a network built for 20 billion letters when we are now only delivering 6.7 billion. Reform is crucial to support a modern, sustainable, and reliable postal service for our customers, our company and our people."
The announcement of new Royal Mail locations comes amid concerns of Post Office branch closures over the last year.