The Department for Business and Trade has on Wednesday appointed Neil Brocklehurst as the new chief executive of Post Office.
Brocklehurst, who has been serving as acting chief executive since September 2024, announced a landmark new banking deal for postmasters on his first day in post.
The new five-year partnership agreement with the UK’s banks and building societies underpins access to cash for millions of individuals and small businesses at Post Office branches from January 2026 until December 2030.
Known as ‘The Banking Framework’, and first established in 2017, the new banking deal secures the vital role of postmasters up and down the country in providing critical face to face banking services to their communities until at least the end of 2030. It enables customers of 30 banks and building societies to use their local post office to withdraw and deposit cash, make balance queries and deposit cheques.
“Neil Brocklehurst has provided stability and strong leadership to the Post Office over the last year and I’m looking forward to working with him to deliver for Post Office customers up and down the country,” Post Office minister Gareth Thomas said.
“This includes those who struggle with travelling to a bank to access basic services, where the local post office is a lifeline.”
“As part of Post Office’s New Deal for Postmasters and Transformation Plan, this new Banking Framework 4 deal will provide a better commercial offer for postmasters over the next five years while improving cash services for the people and businesses that need it most.”
Post Office said the extension to its partnership with the banks and building societies is integral to delivering the ‘New Deal for Postmasters’ that was detailed in its November 2024 Transformation Plan, which strengthens postmasters voice in the day-to-day running of the business and increases the remuneration they receive.
As part of the framework, Post Office is improving the remuneration postmasters receive for handling cash transactions and is also making a major investment in the automation of cash services in-branch to reduce postmasters’ cost-to-serve and to give customers the experience that they have come to expect from modern retailers.
“Post Office is an organisation that needs change, and I am proud to have been appointed the new CEO with a mission to deliver this. I am determined to deliver a ‘New Deal for Postmasters’ that drives up postmasters’ incomes and strengthens their voice in the day-to-day running of the business,” Brocklehurst said.
“This new, five-year agreement with banks and building societies ensures our branches remain vital hubs for cash access and provides certainty for businesses and individuals nationwide when it comes to their everyday banking. This agreement also means that we will be able to increase the income postmasters receive for delivering banking services, a key pillar of our transformation plans.
“We’ve worked hard to secure this new agreement through reinforcing just how important the framework is to communities across the UK and why Post Office, and our postmasters, are the best fit to continue to provide cash services, securing a commitment from the banks that is substantially longer than those previously agreed.”
Prior to joining Post Office in June last year, Brocklehurst spent 15 years at Camelot Group in various roles before becoming CEO of its UK business.
To coincide with his first day as CEO, Brocklehurst will later today lead a first joint postmaster, strategic partner and Post Office colleague ‘Town Hall’ setting out the benefits this new banking deal will have for postmasters and partners.
Access to cash
The new banking deal follows recent research commissioned by Post Office, revealing that:
- 89% of respondents believe it’s important to maintain access to cash in the UK.
- 84% say losing access to cash would be inconvenient.
- Over half (53%) use cash at least once a week for everyday transactions.
- 15% of respondents note that their cash usage has increased over the last year.
- Over a third (34%) of those who have used cash in the past year claim it frustrates them if they are refused to pay for something in cash. And nearly a third (30%) say it makes them go as far as not wanting to return to the shop/use the business again and find an alternative.
- Many people rely on cash when shopping with small businesses, with over a third (36%) of respondents who have used cash in the past year stating they have done so most frequently in small local shops or markets.
Post Office’s network of branches, as well as 150 Banking Hubs run by Post Office in partnership with Cash Access UK, play a critical role in supporting local high streets with their cash needs, enabling individuals and small businesses to have confidence in continued, no fee access. Additionally, Post Offices provide convenient access to cash, with longer opening hours than bank branches and around 3,000 locations open on weekends.
Since January 2020, business and personal customers have completed over 760 million transactions in branches across the UK. Post Office data also shows that the total volume of business and personal deposits has increased every year between 2020 and the end of 2024.
