The 2 Edinburgh Post Offices that face closure amid threat to shut 115 branches nationwide

Some 1,000 jobs are at risk up and down the country under a sweeping overhaul as the group looks to boost postmaster pay by £250 million over five years.

It comes as the Post Office revealed it is looking to offload 115 directly-owned branches within its 11,500 network, which could see them transferred to retail partners or postmasters, or potentially closed.

Around 1,000 workers are employed across the branches, while the Post Office also confirmed that hundreds of further roles are under threat at its headquarters as it looks to streamline back office operations.

Among the branches marked for closure are Edinburgh City Post Office, which is located within the Waverley Market shopping centre, Wester Hailes Post Office in Westside Plaza, and the Haddington Post Office on Court Street.

Nigel Railton, chairman of the Post Office, said the shake-up will also offer a “new deal for postmasters” by increasing their share of revenue and giving them a greater say in the running of the business as it looks to move on from the Horizon IT scandal that saw hundreds of subpostmasters wrongfully convicted.

The plans, which are subject to government funding, would see average branch pay doubled by 2030, with £120 million in additional pay by the end of the first year.

Mr Railton made the announcement at the company’s headquarters in London on Wednesday, November 13 in a speech to postmasters across the country, as well as retail partners and Post Office staff.

He said: “The Post Office has a 360-year history of public service and today we want to secure that service for the future by learning from past mistakes and moving forward for the benefit of all postmasters.

“We can, and will, restore pride in working for a business with a legacy of service, rather than one of scandal.”

He added the overhaul also “begins a new phase of partnership during which we will strengthen the postmaster voice in the day-to-day running and operations of the business, so they are represented from the frontline to the boardroom”.

It follows a strategic review launched by Mr Railton in May, but is reliant on funding talks with government, which the Post Office said were “positive and ongoing”.

The government is also said to have been consulted on the possibility of handing ownership of the network to thousands of subpostmasters across the country.

The 115 branches put at risk are are Crown Post Offices located in city centres and staffed by Post Office employees.

They are the only remaining branches directly owned by the Post Office, down from close to 400 in 2010.

A Post Office spokesperson said: “The plan intends to create a new operating model for the business that means ensuring the Post Office has the right organisational design.”

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) union have called on the Post Office to halt the plans and for the Government to intervene.

CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: “For the company to announce the closure of hundreds of Post Offices hot on the heels of the Horizon scandal is as tone deaf as it is immoral.

“CWU members are victims of the Horizon scandal – and for them to now fear for their jobs ahead of Christmas is yet another cruel attack.”