Anchoring Economics

Key findings: The role of post offices in sustaining our high streets

• Post offices bring huge volumes of additional spending to high streets. In fact, visits to post offices generate more than £3 billion a year of spending in nearby shops and businesses. The additional spending takes place right across the United Kingdom, but is particularly strong in Northern Ireland, Wales and the North East of England.
• Operating a post office also delivers substantial value to Postmasters, by generating nearly £1 billion of spending in host retailers as a result of the customers that their post office attracts. In fact, nearly half of Postmasters believe that their retail outlet would not survive without their post office.
• Post offices are particularly important economic pillars in rural communities, with more than a quarter of post offices serving as the last remaining shop in the village, supporting as many as 30 million visits each year in these branches.