Post Office announces £26 million boost to postmaster remuneration

Post Office has today (30 March) announced that it has increased total postmaster remuneration by £26 million for the 2023-24 financial year.

As part of the package of remuneration improvements, postmasters will benefit from:

• A 20 per cent increase in remuneration for banking deposit transactions, for both the per transaction and the per pound deposited rate, effective April 2023. This builds on the previous doubling of the per transaction rate for banking deposits announced last August.
• As announced on 3 March, around £11m of Royal Mail tariff and inflation linked increases for parcels and stamps negotiated under the Mails Distribution Agreement with Royal Mail Group which came into effect in 2022.
• Doubling of Payout transaction remuneration confirmed to stay at increased levels.
• A 12.87 per cent increase in Mailwork payments.
• A 9.5 per cent increase in outreach remuneration.

The announcement follows a package of remuneration increases made to postmasters last August, in which they received a one-off lump sum worth 7 per cent of their Mails and Travel Money remuneration based on the five months of trading;  a doubling in the per transaction payment for banking deposits; payments to Postmasters for balance enquiries and failed banking transactions; and a doubling in remuneration for all Payout transactions backdated to 1 April 2022.

At the time Post Office said this would be in effect until 31 March 2023. Post Office has today confirmed this higher remuneration rate will continue into the 2023-24 financial year.

“We recognise that postmasters are facing a tough trading environment, with inflation, business rates and energy prices all adding to the economic challenges,” Martin Roberts, group chief retail officer, said.

“We’ve listened to postmasters who tell us that the bank branch closures mean they are the only location where consumers and businesses can do their banking, which is why we’re increasing banking deposit remuneration by 20 per cent. Alongside this, as a result of the deal we agreed with Royal Mail last year, postmasters will also benefit from Royal Mail tariff increases.”