The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has called on politicians to take every possible step to retain the post office network. FSB research has revealed that 82% of small businesses think the closure of their local post office would have a significant impact on their business, in some cases leading to business closure.
In the FSB’s survey, 97% of small businesses think the post office has a role to play in the local community. The closure of post offices is intrinsically linked to the death of small local shops, which already have to contend with poor planning decisions and anti-competitive practices of supermarkets.
In response, the FSB has launched a national campaign and petition on the Downing Street website to Keep Trade Local: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/keeptradelocal/.
John Wright, FSB National Chairman, said: “Politicians of all parties have gotten themselves into a real pickle over post office closures. The policies of successive governments have reduced the viability of local post offices. We now face the loss of a network, which if it did not already exist, would need to be invented – this is madness.
“This is about more than just the post office network. Each post office generates footfall for other local shops and businesses. We already face the loss of up to 50,000 small shops by 2015. The prospect of additional post office closures is yet another nail in the coffin of our local high streets.”
