Post office owned by Husband and wife in Blaenavon to reduce hours

Husband and wife Nick and Wendy Horler have run the Post Office within their business Artie Craftie in Broad Street for the past seven years.

And now they have announced the branch - which was named Post Office of the Year two years in a row - will close early on Thursdays.

Wendy inside the post office picture: Nick Horler (Image: Nick Horler)

Wendy inside the post office picture: Nick Horler 

Mr Horler said: “We haven’t taken the decision too lightly, the footfall in the town has decreased rapidly.

“You look out on the street and there’s no one, sometimes we don’t see someone for three quarters of an hour.

“Me and my wife don’t earn a wage, we haven’t been able to take a holiday in seven years because we can’t leave the post office.

“We only get time off on bank holidays, hundreds of thousands of postmasters are in the same situation.

“We would never do anything but support our community.”

Outside the Post Office picture: Nick Horler (Image: Nick Horler)

Outside the Post Office picture: Nick Horler

The new opening hours are:

• Monday-Wednesday: 9am-5pm;
• Thursday: 9am-1pm;
• Friday: 9am-5pm;
• Saturday: 9am-12.30pm.

Mr Horler said that post offices nationally are facing dire situations as a result of the rising cost of living, and the government moving services which were previously run from post offices online.

“People don’t come into town to get their pensions anymore," he said. "The older generation would have used their money to spend in shop.

“We’ve just lost the fishing licence – the government took this away from us and put it online, and we lost the TV licence 15 years ago.

“We’re a valuable asset for the banking, in lots of areas there’s post offices but no banks.

“We are becoming the banking service of the community - we have people who have very limited funds and we can do withdrawals of a pound.

“A lot of people come in and pay money with coins – we had a person come in and pay their electricity bill with £1 coins.

“People like get me get a commission from the post office from everything we sell - but it doesn’t cover your wages or renting."

Mr and Mrs Horler have not had a week off in seven years picture: Nick Horler (Image: Nick Horler)

Mr and Mrs Horler have not had a week off in seven years picture: Nick Horler

Calum Greenhow, chief executive officer for The National Federation of Sub Postmasters said: “Seventy per cent of our colleagues earn less than the minimum wage – the government have played a significant responsibility in that.

“We have seen our costs go through the roof, as much as we welcome the support from the government.

“The reality is the government has stripped services away from us, but they are not doing what is required for the network of today

“We are really calling on the government and post office to treat their post masters and their network far better than what they currently are.”