Darren Henry, MP for Broxtowe “cut the ribbon” (on 17 May) at the official opening of Giltbrook Post Office and store, which have undergone a major transformation.
The new experienced, Postmaster is Arikaran Pathmanathan, known to customers as Harry. His brother Dinesh is the manager, and will be focused solely on this branch.
Giltbrook Post Office has been fully modernised inside and out at the existing location of 465 Nottingham Road, Giltbrook, Nottingham, NG16 2GF. It is now a Go Local Extra store.
Post Office services are now provided from two Post Office counter alongside the retail counter as part of a refurbishment, which allows the Post Office to be open throughout the store’s opening hours: Monday to Friday: 7am – 9.30pm; Saturday & Sunday: 8am – 8pm.
This is 96 hours and 30 minutes of Post Office service a week for the convenience of customers. This is more than double the previous length of opening hours including the weekend, much earlier opening and much later closing. This is an extra 56 hours and 30 minutes of Post Office service a week.
Darren Henry, MP, said: “I am delighted to have been able to open the new look Giltbrook Post Office today. It is an essential asset for the local community. I specifically would like to give my congratulations to postmaster Harry Pathmanathan for his investment into the store and for the service he provides for our community. I look forward to seeing how all the fantastic improvements that have been made, including longer opening hours, will benefit my constituents here in Broxtowe.”
Internal changes have been made to the premises, which have greatly improved the layout of the shop, which has now become a convenience store. This has created more space to increase the retail range including a beer cave where the drinks are stored at the correct temperature ready to enjoy.
This is the third Post Office run by Harry including Leamington Drive in Sutton-in-Ashfield and Recreation Road in Shirebrook. With his extended family they run more than 20 Post Offices in Nottinghamshire.
Postmaster, Harry Paathmanathan, said: “We are excited to be serving customers old and new at Giltbrook Post Office. The community is delighted with all the changes we’ve made including big improvements on the retail side. Word is spreading about the transformation. It’s a residential area, but there is lots of passing business and we are lucky to have lots of parking, so very easy for people to pop in.
“With my family having many Post Offices and convenience stores, I have looked to see what works well with our other branches and introduced those retail ranges. We really care about the communities that we serve; we are hard-working and put great emphasis on first class customer service.
“The new opening hours make it much easier for customers to pop in to do their Post Office transactions, including sending and collecting parcels, and to pick up their groceries at the same time. With so many bank branch closures the doubling of the branch’s opening hours will make it more convenient for residents and businesses to do their banking on behalf of all the major high street banks.”
The previous owners, Jin and Rana Kaur, had run Giltbrook Post Office for 20 years.