Isle of Man Post Office (IOMPO) wishes to advise that is has reopened the Request for Quotes (RFQ) exercise for providing services in Port St Mary so it can fully explore a late expression of interest it has received.
Contrary to rumoured belief, the Board of IOMPO has always and continues to be committed to providing postal services where it is practical to do so, and where there is willing individuals/businesses to provide these on behalf of IOMPO.
Last month IOMPO ran an RFQ exercise in Port St Mary, with a number of stakeholders advised from the outset including the General Election candidates for Rushen, Port St Mary Commissioners, the current and neighbouring sub postmasters and the National Federation of Sub Postmasters, yet no expression of interest in running the like-for-like service were received. Therefore the Board faced no alternative than to advise customers earlier this week that they would need to use the nearest available post office with effect from 1st November when the sub postmaster retires.
The extended RFQ will now run for a further two weeks to allow the late interested party to formally submit the relevant documentation in order to consider their desire and suitability to progress their interest further. At the same time, it will provide the opportunity for any other possible interested parties to come forward also. IOMPO also wish to highlight that there is no guarantee a workable solution can be found at this stage.
Julie Edge MHK, Chairman of IOMPO said: “There have been many untruths in the media about IOMPO and its Board in the past few days which have been disappointing to read. On behalf of the Board, I can honestly say that we do very much recognise the social value sub post offices provide in communities across the Island and where it is viable and there is interest to maintain services, we will endeavour to do this. However, the reality is digital ways of transacting our daily business are superseding the need for face-to-face services, and therefore demand and interest in providing these is diminishing and its our role to respond accordingly and responsibly in line with our Retail Modernisation Strategy, (which includes ensuring that 96% of Island residents live within 3 miles of a service access point for postal services, with a postal service access point in each constituency), to this ever-increasing challenge.”
-Ends-
Connect with the Post Office PR Team to keep up to date with news and press information.