Date set for opening of new Wick post office in Poundstretcher
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A date has been set for the opening of a new Wick post office within the town's Poundstretcher store.
Glyn and Joy Jackson will be providing the service, which is due to start on Thursday, June 1.
Wick has been without a shop-based post office since the branch at 125-127 High Street closed suddenly just over three months ago.
Mr and Mrs Jackson offered to run a fixed service in Wick in addition to their mobile post office commitments. Currently these include three days a week, for between three and five hours at a time, at the riverside car park – close to the Poundstretcher store in Macleay Lane.
A spokesperson for Post Office Ltd in London said: "We are aiming to open at this new location on June 1. If there is an unavoidable delay, the Wick mobile post office will continue to operate for the time being at the riverside car park."
"Glyn and Joy Jackson quickly agreed to provide an interim service to Wick. However, the mobile had limited capacity to visit Wick as many other communities were already reliant upon it. They will now operate the service inside the Poundstretcher, which allows them to provide a better service with longer opening hours than currently.
"It will provide 26 hours of post office service a week, compared with the 12 hours of service that they can currently offer to the people of Wick."
The service within Poundstretcher will operate from 9am to 12.30pm and 1pm to 4pm, from Monday to Thursday.
Post Office network provision lead David Duff said: “We are very pleased that Poundstretcher has provided space within its town centre store.
"We also want to thank Glyn and Joy Jackson for providing the interim mobile post office for Wick and for finding a shop-based location, which will allow them to more than double the current opening hours.
"This will really benefit the residents, businesses and tourists in Wick.”
The move is described as a "temporary solution", with Post Office Ltd saying that "longer term we are still working towards a permanent solution for Wick".
Last month, Mr Jackson revealed that a deal to provide a service from Poundstretcher was "frustratingly close" and that he and his wife were "itching for it to happen".
He added: “The feedback generally has been great and we're doing all that we can in the meantime.”
The mobile service is at the riverside car park on a Wednesday (10.30am to 2.30pm), Thursday (9am to 2pm) and Friday (11.15am to 2.15pm).
Local MP Jamie Stone is among those who have praised Mr and Mrs Jackson.
He said recently: "My thanks go to all those involved in restoring these vital services to Wick. All credit to Glyn and Joy Jackson for stepping up to serve the community, though of course this is not the first time they have taken on this mighty responsibility.
"With the new post office located just off the town centre, and open for longer hours, local people will have even better access than before."
The Jacksons agreed to step in with their mobile post office after temporary postmaster Kevin Milkins closed the branch at 125-127 High Street on February 20, leaving Wick without a shop-based post office for the second time in just over two years.
Mr Milkins said he had intended to pull out at the end of March but decided to bring forward his scheduled retirement from the business. He spoke of "operational difficulties" that had been taking their toll on his health.
