Mayor of Hailsham, Cllr Paul Holbrook, cut the ribbon last week (12 July) to officially Hailsham Post Office.
Chair of Wealden District Council, Cllr Pam Doodes and several Hailsham Town Council councillors were also in attendance at the community celebration to mark the welcome return of a Post Office to the town centre.
This branch is run by Hailsham Town Council to ensure that vital Post Office service could be restored to Hailsham High Street. It is believed to be the first Town Council in the UK to operate a Post Office.
All six staff, who worked at the previous branch, now work at the new location, which means that there is a highly experienced team serving Post Office customers. Christeen Holverson is still the Post Office manager.
John Harrison, Clerk to Hailsham Town Council, said: “The new Post Office is going really well. People are really glad to have a Post Office back in the town centre. A Post Office is a vital service for a community and this is a growing town with thousands more homes being built in the area, so we decided that we had to find a way to re-open the Post Office.
“Hailsham Town Council pledged a certain amount of funding to get the Post Office open. A Post Office is for the whole community, so the whole community will benefit from the council spending this money. We plan to get to the stage where Hailsham Post Office will break even and it will be self-funding. We made a conscious decision not to offer any other retail premises as we didn’t want to affect the livelihoods of any other shops in the area.”
The previous branch at nearby 21 High Street, Hailsham, closed temporarily in December due to the resignation of the Postmaster. When the Town Council heard that the newsagents, where the Post Office was based, was closing it formed a Community Interest Company and successfully applied to take on the branch.
Jason Collins, Post Office Retail Operations Change Area Manager, said: “We are delighted to be able to restore Post Office services to this area of Hailsham as we know how important the service is to the community. We have worked closely with Hailsham Town Council to get the new branch open as quickly as possible.”
Chair of Wealden District Council, Cllr Pam Doodes, said: “A Post Office should be at the heart of every community so it is excellent news that Hailsham Town Council has opened Hailsham Post Office. The branch looks great and it is in a very convenient location.”
The Post Office opening hours are Monday to Saturday: 9am – 5.30pm, making it convenient for customers to visit.
