Julie Marson, MP for Hertford and Stortford, has celebrated the news of the return of Ware High Street’s Post Office due to open on Tuesday 1st August.
The old Post office was closed when Morrison’s decided to close the Martin’s shop. As soon as she learnt of the planned closure, Julie launched a campaign to save Ware High Street’s Post Office.
After months of negotiations, Elliot Jacobs, an experienced postmaster, and the Post Office signed an agreement for Mr Jacobs to open a Post office branch in the same location as before with the same banking services present too.
A full refit is currently being undertaken to open his UOE branded stationery store alongside Ware Post Office.
There will be three full-screened counters and an open plan Post Office counter alongside the retail counter. The same wide range of Post Office services as before will be available six days a week.
The UOE Store specialises in stationery, packaging materials, greetings cards, ID-Photos, design-led gifts and novelties while also offering a range of essential services including copying, printing, binding and laminating.
Commenting on the news, Julie said:
“This is absolutely fantastic news and something I have worked hard to secure with the Post Office and Elliot since the former Post Office’s closure.
“Restoring full postal and banking services to the centre of Ware is important, and really will make a difference to people’s daily lives.
“Thank you to everyone who supported this campaign so enthusiastically from the start. I look forward to celebrating its opening soon!”
Ware Postmaster Elliot Jacobs said: “I am excited to be re-opening a Post Office in Ware as I know how the town has badly missed all of the services provided by a Post Office. Ware has been hit hard as all of the town’s big banks have closed and many people were reliant on the Post Office to do their business and personal banking. Ware town centre will soon have a convenient place to do their banking again saving them time and effort.
“As Postmaster for the neighbouring town of Hertford I know Ware and I have a good idea of what’s likely to work well for my new Post Office and retail business. I will be employing local people and I will also initially be able to draw on my experienced staff from Hertford to make sure that we can hit the ground running.”
Anthony Bayley, Post Office Network Provision Lead, said: “We are delighted to soon be restoring a Post Office to Ware town centre as we know how important a Post Office is to a community. The branch’s opening hours will make it convenient for customers to visit.”
The opening hours for Ware Post Office and UOE store will be Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday: 9am – 5.30pm; Thursday: 10am – 5.30pm. This later start allows time for staff training and development to maintain high customer service.