Report reveals Post Offices drive £280million of additional spending in local shops in Yorkshire

London Economics released research found that on the high street alone, visits to post offices generated over £3 billion a year of spending in nearby shops and businesses throughout the past year.

The report, named Part and Parcel: the economic and social value of Post Office, highlights the Post Office’s crucial role as part of the underlying economic infrastructure of the United Kingdom.

In Yorkshire and the Humber, Post Office trips generated an additional £280million in other high street shops, equatting to £51 per person.

The Post Office’s extensive reach means it helps support 4,041 jobs in Yorkshire and the Humber, and at least 1,900 jobs in every region of the UK.

Nick Read, CEO of Post Office, said: “Post Office branches are essential to the high street ecosystem, driving footfall and generating wider nearby economic activity, as well as providing an underlying economic infrastructure.

"The report shows that this economic contribution is felt in every corner of the country, and across each parliamentary constituency, supporting 50,000 jobs, and generating an aggregate economic impact of £4.7 billion every year.

“Post Office is essential for the shopkeepers, traders, and nascent businesses of the nation as a whole, who rely on our continued presence on high streets in towns and villages everywhere.”

The research also found that, with the decline of high-street banks, Post Office is the mainstay of the United Kingdom’s banking infrastructure for vulnerable and less well-off individuals, with 15% of the population depending on their local Post Office branch for cash and banking services.

Mr Read added: “Simply put, post offices, and the dedicated Postmasters and Postmistresses who run them, keep people connected.

Connected to the financial system and their cash, to their friends and loved ones, to their customers at home or overseas, and connected to one another in what may, for some, be the only human contact in the day.

"It is very telling that half of customers believe Post Office fosters a sense of belonging in the community. Post Offices should not be overlooked nor taken for granted.”