Over the past few months we have seen he rapid expansion of Royal Mail parcel lockers and 'intelligent' post boxes.
The parcel lockers are being installed across the country, and many people have reported that their local postbox has been 'gift-wrapped in black plastic, prior to being converted to take parcels through a wider apperture. These also have solar panels on the top, would might make the siting of the attractive knitted box-toppers a thing of the past.
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| Job done, just have to close all these doors! |
Just behind me when I took this photo was a recently converted postbox:
And to the left of that fast-food outlet you can see in the last picture, just a further 20 metres away, is a small post office.
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| Holmewood Post Office, Derbyshire |
As recently as May this year, specialist property adviser Christie & Co reported the transfer of ownership:
Specialist business property adviser Christie & Co has announced the sale of Holmewood Post Office near Chesterfield, Derbyshire.
The business is a Mains post office which offers a variety of postal services to customers, as well as a small store stocking stationery equipment and convenience items.
The store has been purchased by an established postmaster who already owns two post offices in the region and has plans to expand the convenience offering with a potential extension to the shop floor.
Christie's said
“The incoming owner has an excellent opportunity to extend the current building to the rear and offer a greater variety of convenience goods. Despite there being close competition on this front, the Post Office should continue to drive footfall into the store and therefore, providing that the offerings are competitively priced, there should be a rise in sales on the convenience side of the business."
I make no criticism of either Christie's or the previous owner, but I wonder if anybody knew then of Royal Mail's intention to provide facilities which will undoubtedly have an impact on the postal footfall to the business.
Because according to Google maps, the postbox hadn't been converted in April:
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| Holmewood PO, Google maps April 2025, with knitted topper on postbox. |
And this is not all.
Royal Mail owners IDS proudly proclaimed on 30 September.
International Distribution Services, owner of Royal Mail, has acquired a 49% stake in Collect+, marking a major milestone in the company’s multi-channel strategy to make collecting, sending and returning parcels as convenient as possible. Following the investment, almost 8,000 Collect+ convenience stores will feature Royal Mail Shop branding.
The new high street brand will be a one stop destination for collecting, sending and returning parcels, selling Royal Mail postage at the shops for the first time and open during extended hours including evenings and weekends. Selling postage over the counter gives customers the option of paying when they get to the shop rather than doing so beforehand online. This service is now live in 500 shops and will be rolled out more widely in the coming months.
Royal Mail and Collect+ first partnered in May 2024 to meet rising consumer demand for convenient parcel drop-off and collection points. Since then, Royal Mail customers have been able to drop-off returns and pre-paid parcels at almost 8,000 Collect+ locations across the UK.
Last month, Vinted became Royal Mail’s first partner to offer its customers collection from the stores. More of Royal Mail’s retail partners will follow soon to offer collection to the shops under the new Royal Mail Shop brand.
The new Royal Mail Shop outlets will fulfil demand for face-to-face parcel services on the high street that are open for extended hours, including during evenings and weekends. They are part of Royal Mail’s rapidly expanded network of almost 24,000 Parcel Points - including 2,000 lockers, 11,500 Post Office branches, 1,200 Royal Mail Customer Service Points and 1,400 parcel postboxes – the largest multi-channel parcel network in the UK.
Sub-postmasters were quick to respond, with the National Federation of Sub-Postmasters calling the move a stab-in-the-back after the long association between Royal Mail and Post Office. But there would seem to be little that can be done with the Competition and Marketing Authority so far silent on the matter.
I don't normally resort to using AI, but when you do a Google search an AI opinion almost always comes up. This is what it says about collect+ effect on "post office" branches
Collect+ will have a direct, negative effect on Post Office branches by competing for parcel services, but the Royal Mail's investment in Collect+ will also lead to the rebranding of thousands of convenience stores as "Royal Mail Shops" offering similar services, including parcel drop-off and returns, potentially diverting business from traditional Post Office branches. Royal Mail will also now offer postage over the counter in these Royal Mail Shops and extended opening hours, further challenging Post Offices.
It seems that the new Royal Mail Shops ex Collect+ will also "sell postage', but we know what that means - pay and drop. After all, nobody wants to use multiple stamps to send their packages. And with these shops you can use Royal Mail, Yodel, Amazon, UPS, eBay, DPD, FedEx, DHL, Parcel2Go, Inpost and others.
Now I must get on and stamp some letters: got to make sure there's a reason for the Universal Service Obligation to send a letter anywhere in the country for 87p. We have to use our post offices and support the sub-postmasters who have been under so much pressure for the last couple of decades.
UPDATE 31 October. I'll add links to news stories here with very brief extracts: the problem is nationwide and the postmasters are not happy.
Postmaster hits out at Royal Mail over change to post box - St Helens Star
Helen Thaker, who has run the Dentons Green branch on Greenfield Road since 2001, claims the change is driving customers away from using Post Office services reducing vital commission-based income.
She stated that she believes the decision reflects a wider breakdown in the relationship between Royal Mail and the Post Office and is “taking the bread and butter” away from post offices.
