Post office chief executive visits temporary Milton Keynes branch opened after suspected arson attack
The chief executive of the Post Office Neil Brocklehurst has visited a temporary branch opened at Milton Keynes City Council’s offices after a fire at the main branch in Midsummer Boulevard last month.
The site was forced to close after it suffered a suspected arson attack on June 10 while it was open and serving customers.
Staff and customers were forced to quickly evacuate the building after the incident although nobody was injured.
A temporary site for the Post Office has now been opened on the ground floor of the council’s offices, and the facility even has its own entrance door to the right of the main entrance to the council building.
Post Office branch manager Deborah Penwarne described the incident as “shocking,” and said the team were pleased to be back doing their regular jobs, albeit from a different location.
“We’re glad to be back at work, which will help us try to put this bad experience behind us,” she explained.
“The fire was a shocking, unexpected, incident.
“It was so awful seeing the counters going up in flames.
“I was so grateful that I was there at the time to support my team.
“We’ve always been a tight-knit team, and we’ve all supported each other since this awful incident, and have even been offered counselling.
“When I heard that a temporary branch was to open, it really lifted my mood immensely.
“It is amazing that this interim branch has opened so quickly thanks to the council and Post Office pulling out all the stops and it’s in walking distance of the previous branch.
“The row of counters looks good and whilst the interim branch can’t offer everything that it had before, it does still offer so many services.”
The Post Office has the same opening hours of 9am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 5.30pm on Saturday, and features five counters.
It is located at 1 Saxon Gate East and offers the majority of available services, with additional ones added since the temporary site opened.
During the visit Brocklehurst thanked council chief executive Michael Bracey for finding space for the Post Office at its building.
Speaking after his visit Brocklehurst said: “When I had heard about the serious fire at Milton Keynes Post Office I had been shocked and dismayed.
“Now that staff are back working together, I wanted to visit the interim branch to show my support and solidarity for staff, who have been through a traumatic experience.
“The smiles on their faces show how pleased they are to back working alongside each other again and serving customers that they know so well.
“We know how important a Post Office is to a community, and I want to sincerely thank Milton Keynes City Council for swiftly finding us temporary accommodation to restore vital services.
“Post office area change manager Zoe Hall has worked incredibly hard to get this interim branch open so quickly, and Paul Mead, head of Post Office directly managed branches, deserves praise for looking after the well-being of staff and his determination to get a temp solution.”