Adopt-a-Function Resilience
Adopt-a-Function Resilience
– A Strong Start for Collaborative Working – A Postmaster Ponderings
I've been wondering whether Postmaster Engagement might actually be worth something. Literally.
That, for me, is where Adopt-a-Function – AaF – starts to get interesting.
Here’s the equation:
Lower Post Office Ltd costs + Increased Post Office Income = More Postmaster REM.
Of course, it isn't quite as mechanically simple as that. But the principle surely is. A more efficient, more successful Post Office creates greater capacity to reward the people operating its network.
And that is why AaF feels meaningful to me. It feels like perhaps the best route we currently have for postmasters to directly bring their everyday experience into Post Office and constructively influence how the business works.
AaF, the brainchild of Mark Eldridge, is a work-in-progress engagement channel with a meaningful Postmaster Engagement objective. But Postmaster Engagement isn't an end in itself. It should help Post Office make better decisions, avoid unnecessary cost, improve the network and, ultimately, build stronger and more viable branches.
Postmasters are the closest people to our market every day. This doesn’t just mean customers. It means the reality of Evri, DPD and Amazon operations; banking deposits; cash collections from our branches; fraud; button presses on a Horizon terminal; the grinding time overseas parcel processes take; and the knowledge of what a good Post Office should actually look like.
Postmasters don't necessarily know more than the specialists inside POL about fraud, cash processing, technology or banking. But we do know what all these things look like when they collide with reality at the counter.
That is our unique value. Am I beginning to see AaF as a place where that operational experience can meet the specialist expertise, knowledge and leadership within Post Office? I think so. It's still a bit ad-hoc, but get that combination right and I genuinely believe we can make the business more efficient, more successful and more sustainable.
And a more successful Post Office has greater capacity to reward the people operating its network.
I joined the AaF Banking group some time ago, initially to something of a stuttering start. Shortly after this year's NFSP Conference I was invited to join the AaF Ambassadors group and, from what I've seen since, there is a strengthening belief on both sides that this could become an engagement channel that really works.
Hopes and Expectations are looking for a place to co-habit.
Neither side is particularly practised at this yet. After everything that has happened historically, POL and postmasters aren't suddenly going to discover perfect collaborative working because somebody creates an AaF Teams channel and schedules some meetings. Learning to work with each other will take trust, familiarity and a better understanding of what each side can — and cannot — do.
There will be confidentiality where necessary but, crucially, postmasters need to see evidence that contributing can actually change something. If we put something into the conversation, we need to know what happened to it. Communications blackouts need to become a thing of the past.
Which brings me to a field trip.
The number and shape of AaF groups remains semi-fluid, so it was with considerable interest that I attended the inaugural Resilience AaF meeting at one of Post Office's Cash Operations buildings on 7th August.
The choice of venue was itself part of the thinking.
AaF Ambassadors John Shepherd, Lek, Jim Gordon and Resilience Director Calum Mitchell had recognised that bringing the group together face-to-face at the outset would help establish relationships and create the foundations for open discussion. It also gave us the opportunity to see some of the critical — and in this case, massive — infrastructure that sits behind our branches.
Adopt-a-Function Resilience – A Strong Start for Collaborative Working – A Postmaster Ponderings
Getting in is an experience in itself. Behind security that makes your last trip through airport departures feel positively relaxed sits an enormous cash-handling facility and a complex operation that goes far beyond simply counting cash.
And there is something rather different about standing beside the machinery, shouting over the noise of ancient coin counting machines, watching the counterfeit note process in action and talking to the people who actually run it. PowerPoint has its uses, but you need this to bring home the reality of the fact that Post Office is so much more than our branches and a head office.
The numbers behind the operation are sensitive, but suffice to say the scale is enormous. Inward cash has increased year on year since 2020/21, reaching record levels in 2025/26, while outward volumes have reduced slightly. It's an interesting reflection of the wider picture of the changing banking landscape within which we are now so embedded.
Whatever the long-term direction of cash usage, these are strategically important assets doing a job that is largely invisible to us — but without which our branches would all grind to a halt within a week.
But fascinating as all that was, the most interesting part of the visit for me wasn't the machinery or even the numbers. It was what happened around the table.
Led by Calum Mitchell and his team, the meeting was characterised by openness, honesty and a genuine willingness to listen. Rather than simply presenting information to us, the Resilience team shared some of the challenges they face, explained the complexity behind decisions and invited the postmasters in the room to challenge, question and contribute from our own experience.
And that worked both ways.
Within the appropriate boundaries of confidentiality and Non-Disclosure Agreements, postmasters can gain a much better appreciation of the complexity of issues that are rarely as straightforward as they may appear from our side of the counter. At the same time, Post Office colleagues get direct access to people dealing with the consequences of processes and decisions every day.
The attendance of Chief Operating Officer Mark Donnelly, as Executive Sponsor for the group, was particularly welcome and added weight to the occasion. Senior POL leaders hearing directly from postmasters is important, just as postmasters having direct access to those making decisions within the business is important. If Postmaster engagement is to develop real influence, those relationships need to work in both directions.
And there was plenty to talk about.
One discussion in particular caught my attention. Calum talked about the continuing shift within Resilience from reaction to prevention.
Historically, much of the team's effort was inevitably spent responding to crime, fraud and incidents after they had happened. Increasingly, the ambition is to use better intelligence, processes and controls to identify risks earlier — preventing incidents where possible and minimising their impact where they can't be prevented.
Now think about the resource sitting within the Post Office network. Thousands of branches seeing millions of transactions, customer behaviours, attempted frauds, process weaknesses and, occasionally, things that simply don't look quite right.
The Resilience team has specialist expertise, data and oversight that no individual postmaster could ever have. But across the network, postmasters provide thousands of pairs of eyes at precisely the point where those risks encounter the real world. If we can bring these two perspectives together effectively then perhaps we can spot problems earlier, prevent some of them happening at all and reduce the impact of those we can't.
And, taking considerable liberties with a perfectly good old proverb, prevention is generally cheaper than cure.
Which rather takes me back to my equation.
Adopt-a-Function Resilience – A Strong Start for Collaborative Working – A Postmaster Ponderings
The opportunity isn't confined to Resilience. If postmaster involvement can help spot problems earlier, suggest solutions, simplify processes, reduce unnecessary costs, improve services or find new income, then engagement has achieved something more useful than engagement.
It has helped make the business better.
The AaF Resilience group will continue to meet, and there is plenty to get our teeth into: fraud prevention, money laundering, communications, branch processes, network quality and operational efficiency amongst them.
The challenge now, for Resilience and AaF more widely, is to turn encouraging meetings into a way of working where Post Office expertise and postmaster experience routinely meet early enough to make a difference.
If we can do that, we surely share the same prize: a more efficient, successful and sustainable Post Office — and stronger, more viable post offices.
Take a look at all the AaF groups there are, put your hand up and join in.
Tim Allen AaF Ambassadors Group – Comms & Banking
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Have Your Say
Three Questions. A Few Minutes. Your Say.
Following feedback from postmasters, Post Office have introduced a quicker and easier for you to share your views and help shape the future of the network – the Postmaster Pulse.
A quicker way to have your say
Your time is valuable so the Pulse is short and straightforward to respond to.
Fully anonymous and independently managed by Savanta
Includes just three multiple choice questions plus an open question so you can share more detailed feedback
Takes only a few minutes to complete
Sent directly to you by email and SMS
Most importantly, your responses will help Post Office better understand what's working well, where improvements are needed and what matters most to you.
Your feedback
The Postmaster Pulse is an important way for you to share your feedback with Post Office. It will complement, not replace, the many ways you can already engage with POL, including Town Halls, webinars, and representative groups such as VoTP and NFSP.
Be in with a chance to win
To thank you for taking part, you will be given the opportunity to enter the prize draw – and be in with a chance of winning one of three Android tablets.
It's another reason to take just a few minutes to share your views and make your voice heard.
Prize draw Terms and Conditions will be available on Branch Hub ahead of the Pulse launch.
First Postmaster Pulse launches 7 August
The Postmaster and Partner Pulse will be open Friday 7 August to Friday 4 September.
The link will be sent to your email and/or mobile from:
· SMS: Postmaster Pulse
· Email: postmasterpulse@savanta-surveys.com
When the link arrives on 7 August, please take a few minutes to complete it. Three questions, a few minutes of your time, and the opportunity to make a difference across the network.
If you have any questions or concerns, please email one@postoffice.co.uk.
Process Review Scheme
Closing deadline for Post Office Process Review applications: 11.59pm on 30 September 2026
Redress for Postmasters financially impacted by products, policies or processes
A closing deadline has been announced for PPR applications. All new request forms must be received by 11.59pm on 30 September 2026.
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We have had recent incidents of criminals being able to access Horizon terminals and deposit large amounts of cash into accounts. Obviously this cash never existed and leaves the branch concerned with a large deficit and subsequently under investigation. Please do NOT let anyone have access to your Horizon terminals OR share your smart ID. DON'T GIVE CRIMINALS THE OPPORTUNITY TO PUT YOU AT RISK.
Visitor process reminder – help fight the fraudsters
Post Office is supporting the police to tackle the threat from organised criminals trying to access the network to commit fraud. Here’s how you can help, and how we can support you.
What to look out for
· Criminals may approach postmasters and branch staff offering financial incentives for access to a Smart ID/Horizon
· They may send emails about a visit, claiming to be from the Horizon team
· They may tell people there is no risk of formal/criminal consequences, which isn’t true
· In recent police investigations, there have been cases where postmasters and branch staff have been arrested, interviewed by police, had their DNA and fingerprints taken, bank accounts frozen and warrants served at their homes and branches. Postmaster contracts have also been suspended/terminated and Smart IDs cancelled
We are sharing this information as we don’t want that to happen to other postmasters or branch staff.
Mandatory visitor process
· Follow mandatory requirements for verifying branch visitors
· Contact Grapevine every time to verify all visitors before you give access to secure or restricted areas – even if you’ve had a phone call, email or other message in advance. This includes:
o behind any counter (combi, open plan or fortress)
o near Horizon systems
o any secure or safe area
· See the Operations Manual for more details
· Not following the right process could mean contract suspension/termination or Smart IDs being cancelled, as well as action by law enforcement
Smart IDs
· Never share your Smart ID
· Never allow anyone to access Horizon or any systems using another person’s credentials
Other ways you can help
· Report any approaches/suspicious activity to Grapevine on 0345 603 4004 as soon as possible when it’s safe, including:
o What was said or offered
o Descriptions of the person/people
o Copies of any letters, emails, or messages
o CCTV if you have it
· Or contact Speak Up (Whistleblowing) confidentially on 0800 041 8159/ http://speakup.postoffice.co.uk/ · Please share this message with all branch staff, along with this short video - Security Spotlight - Network Fraud Prevention.
Wellbeing support
We recognise this information may cause concern and people who have experienced this may wish to access support.
· For confidential independent support, contact HELP Health and Wellbeing on 0800 688 8777 · or other postmaster representative groups
Thank you for your continued vigilance to keep branches, colleagues and customers safe.
Postmaster email summary (max 300 characters) if this is published in Branch Hub news:
Criminals try to access the Post Office network to commit fraud, including by offering financial incentives for access to a Smart ID/Horizon. They may send official-looking emails about visits. Always follow the visitor process and report incidents to Grapevine on 0345 603 4004.
Who are "VOTP"
The Voice of the Postmaster (VOTP) are an independent group serving and supporting Postmasters across the UK, who formed together in 2022
VOTP's Mission
- Fair Renumeration
- Independent democratic representation
- Visibility regarding every branches future
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