From Trevor Moore, Co-op financial services manager.
I WOULD like to clarify the remarks in Brendan McDonalds letter (JEP 15 June). Things have changed greatly at Jersey Post since Brendan’s days when the Central Market was a sub-post office.

For the past couple of years it has been run as a branch office directly by Jersey Post and subject to the much greater costs attached to this.

In the UK, Royal Mail have been forced to either close or sell off hundreds of similar offices in town centre’s around the UK, in addition to closing several thousand subpost offices.

That Jersey Post has been able to retain a post office network of the size that this Island has is to their credit. Jersey can boast over 20 offices. Compare this to Guernsey where only eight offices operate on the main Island.

Maintaining this network has been done without any financial support from Government and without the vast amount of official and parochial business that is handled at post offices in the UK. Perhaps Brendan should speak to the Treasury Minister over this lack of States support.

With falling business, Jersey Post has a very difficult job sustaining such a large network. Operators of sub-post offices such as the Co-op do not make any financial gain from running these offices, but are able to cover their costs by offering other services and utilising the expensive staff costs with a support role for the shops where they are located.

Sub offices can therefore exist on very much smaller payments than Jersey Post directly run offices, and to all intents and purpose are providing the subsidy that the States of Jersey cannot give.

The Co-op office at Don Street has always been there for Co-op financial services and Bureau de Change. It makes sense therefore for Jersey Post to take advantage of this and attach their services. They are managing to maintain the post office services to the public and business in this part of town whilst sensibly reducing their own costs.

As mentioned earlier, traditional postal work that keeps sub offices alive is falling, and these offices should be supported.

The UK post office had a slogan: ‘This is your Post Office – use it or lose it’. This is now very relevant to Jersey.

Channel Islands Co-operative Society Ltd, 27 Charing Cross.