19th Apr 2007 07:02
WH Smith PLC19 April 2007 19 April 2007 WH Smith PLC to open Post Offices in 70 High Street stores WH Smith PLC announces an agreement with Post Office Limited to open PostOffices within 70 WHSmith High Street stores. This follows the successful trial of Post Office franchises in six WHSmithstores. Since these trial stores opened, there has been positive customerfeedback, with customers welcoming the pleasant new Post Office environment,good levels of customer service, convenient locations and additional services,such as extended opening hours. The agreement secures the future of main Post Office services in 70 towns andensures that local communities will continue to have access to the full range ofover 170 Post Office services from a convenient and easily accessible locationin the heart of their town. There is a natural fit between these two well-known and valued high streetbrands and the complementary products and services provide an excitingopportunity to enhance the customer offer further for both WHSmith and PostOffice customers. We anticipate that the majority of the 70 Post Office branches will haverelocated to the local WHSmith store by autumn 2008, on average less than 250metres from the site of the original Post Office. Commenting on the announcement, Kate Swann, WHSmith Group Chief Executive, said: "We are delighted to be working with the Post Office to ensure that main PostOffice services continue to be available in the centre of 70 UK towns. Followingthe positive response to our Post Office trial, we are pleased to be able tobring the full range of Post Office services and an enhanced customer offer tomore communities." Alan Cook, Post Office Limited Managing Director, said: "We are tremendously pleased to have secured WHSmith as a major partner,committed to operating a further 70 Post Office branches in its stores. Thecombination of a WHSmith store and a Post Office branch makes perfect sense forcustomers and we both believe that it will strengthen our respective businesses.Crucially for Post Office Limited, the partnership will help us to put the Crownoffice network on a sound financial footing, after many years of heavy losses." - Ends - Enquiries: WH Smith PLCSarah Heath Media Relations 020 7851 8850Mark Boyle Investor Relations 020 7851 8820 BrunswickTom Buchannan 020 7404 5959Pamela Small NOTE TO EDITORS WH Smith PLC operates from around 540 high street stores and around 260 retailunits in airports, stations and motorway service areas. The High Street businesssells a wide range of newspapers, magazines, stationery, books and entertainmentproducts, while WHSmith Travel sells a tailored range of newspapers, magazines,books and confectionery products for people on the move. In addition, WHSmithDirect - www.whsmith.co.uk - serves customers on the internet 24 hours a day. Post Office Limited - With around 14,300 branches across the country, the PostOffice(R) is the UK's largest retail and financial services chain. Its networkis larger than all of the UK's banks and building societies put together. Around94 per cent of the UK population lives within a mile of a Post Office(R) branchand 24 million customers visit every week. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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