TG Jones restructuring could close 60 post offices, create ‘postal deserts’

The owner of WH Smith’s former high street chain, now operating as TG Jones, is seeking to modify contracts with the Post Office to ease store closures, fueling fears that communities could become “postal deserts.”

TG Jones runs 180 post offices, and as many as 60 may close under a restructuring plan by Modella, the private equity group that acquired the chain last year and rebranded it.

Modella’s proposal includes steep rent reductions for dozens of outlets. Landlords are expected to decline the terms and terminate leases, potentially shuttering up to 150 of the 450 TG Jones stores and putting thousands of jobs at risk.

In a letter to creditors, Modella said it would amend Post Office contracts to allow closures with 56 days’ notice — less than a third of the current six-month period — if the restructuring plan is approved. Creditors are scheduled to vote next month.

Eight stores are set to close definitively, seven of which house Post Offices: in East Ham; Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire; Torquay, Devon; Hull; Ayr; Middleton, Greater Manchester; and Solihull, West Midlands.

Closing a store with a Post Office counter would force the postal service to find a nearby alternative site or abandon the area altogether.

The Communications Workers Union (CWU), the main union for postal workers, criticized the decision.

Mole Meade, a CWU executive council member, said communities served by Post Offices targeted under TG Jones’s plan would “become postal deserts in a modern world.”

At the time of Modella’s takeover, the CWU demanded “cast-iron guarantees” to protect workers’ terms and conditions, fearing the private equity firm might be “carpet baggers looking to asset strip it.”

Meade said this week: “We have been warning governments of all colours for nearly 35 years that outsourcing important social services like the Post Office to companies will put shareholders before communities we serve. All they will do is end up closing down community and crown post offices.”

Other compensation rights for stores affected by the restructuring plan would also be waived, according to a document sent to creditors and reviewed by the Guardian.

Instead, the document states, the Post Office would receive a payment equal to 170% of estimated profits from site closure — such as stock sales — with a minimum of £500.

The reduced notice period and compensation would apply during the three-year restructuring plan through June 2029, after which the Post Office’s standard rights would resume.

Last week, Modella said the survival of the “iconic 234-year-old business” was its “imperative” amid weak consumer spending and rising operating costs. It added that the forced rebranding from WH Smith had hurt trade, likely necessitating store closures and job cuts.

The private equity group added: “The restructuring plan is designed to protect the substantial core of the store estate and create a stronger, more sustainable business that can continue to serve customers for years to come. We are extremely grateful to the many stakeholders who have pledged their support, including the Post Office and Toys R Us.”

Shortly after the acquisition, Modella promised landlords it would expand TG Jones to become the “hub of the high street,” with 500 outlets combining postal and banking services with learning, play, and reading products.

Modella said the Post Office has “pledged their support” for the restructuring plan, and the company is understood to aim at relocating Post Offices lost in the restructuring to other businesses it owns, such as Hobbycraft.

A Post Office spokesperson said: “We fully recognise the challenging trading conditions that TG Jones and many other high street retailers are facing at the moment.

“It’s regrettable that following the restructuring plan announcement by TG Jones on 7 May, a small number of Post Office branches inside TG Jones stores will close in the coming months. We are working hard to find locations nearby to continue offering Post Office services.

“We have a longstanding partnership with TG Jones and we know that post offices drive significant footfall to the high street.

“We will continue to work closely with TG Jones to understand what impact the restructuring plan could have on other stores that host post offices and are potentially at risk of closure. We will also continue to support the many branches inside TG Jones stores not impacted by this announcement, serving thousands of customers every week.”

The state-owned Post Office — still recovering from the Horizon IT scandal — announced the closure of more than 100 branches in late 2024.

The WH Smith travel stores, located in railway stations, hospitals, and airports, were not part of the Modella deal and remain owned by the stock market-listed parent company.

Modella declined to comment on the latest developments.

This article was amended on 15 May 2026. An earlier version said Waltham Cross was in London; it is in Hertfordshire.