1. Sue Huggins General Manager – Rural Post Office Ltd Co-location in rural service delivery

2. 2 The Rural Network today Rural defined as ≤ 10k inhabitants Roughly 8,000 outlets, of which some 6,000 are in communities of less than 1,000 Wide range of premises, typically village shops, but also including halls of various types pub premises private houses restaurants/cafes schools, old people’s homes portacabins, farms, stables garden sheds and other outbuildings!

3. 3 The importance of retail 84% of network has a retail offer attached: General Store Greetings Stationer Convenience CTN General Stationer Supermarket/Hypermarket Garage/Service Station Pharmacist/Chemist

4. 4 The Rural Post Office ® Network – 8100 branches covering the whole of the UK

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6. 6 Key features of the Post Office Rural Network A UK wide integrated IT system (with on line banking capability) – covering all rural areas A UK wide secure distribution system – covering all rural areas A UK wide branded franchise system – enabling consistent product/service delivery by local people in all rural areas UK’s most trusted brand

7. 7 Two different forms of co-location Service Bundling – Post Office Ltd bundles a range of different products and services and uses its network for delivery into rural areas (banking, Government services, utility bills, postal, financial services, travel etc) Resource Bundling – Post Offices co-locate premises (village shop, pubs, churches, village halls etc) and people (sub- postmasters and assistants may also be shopkeeper, publican, librarian etc)

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9. 9 Example of co-location – Norfolk Police partnership An example of both service bundling and resource bundling 8 rural Post Office Branches providing ‘front desk’ services for the Police Citizens get better geographic and hours coverage Subpostmaster gets income to assist sustainability Police get value for money operation

10. 10 Partnerships and Co-location Norfolk Constabulary

11. 11 When co-location works When it is win/win/win (people/premises/products) When it is convenient to customers rather than convenient to suppliers When costs can be genuinely shared When all parties are committed

12. 12 However, co-location demands a sustainable underpinning economic model All parties want to co-locate at marginal cost A sustainable platform infrastructure is a pre- condition for sustainable co-location Social benefits need to be translated into financial flows to support the model Clarity and consistency of approach are needed if individuals/groups are going to commit resources into the medium term

13. 13 Final Thoughts Co – location works when it is considered as part of wider agenda and when there is genuine commitment to that agenda I’d like to applaud Defra for working to develop a strategic approach to co-location as a mechanism to enhance rural service delivery

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