Westbourne Post Office will remain at its Seamoor Road site after a new operator was confirmed, following a strong local campaign to keep the branch open.
Bournemouth-based South Coast Retail, run by postmaster Liam Searle, will now take over operations at the branch.
The company already runs Post Office sites in, Sherborne, Swanage and Weymouth, and will now manage Westbourne alongside six additional branches in Devon and Cornwall.
The Westbourne site will offer the same range of services, with extended hours on Tuesday mornings.
The announcement follows a campaign by Bournemouth West MP Jessica Toale, who gathered support from over 2,000 residents concerned about losing a vital local service. She also met with government ministers and Post Office executives to push for the branch to stay open, especially after the closure of the Bournemouth town centre branch.
Jessica Toale said many local residents depend on the Post Office for banking, official documentation and staying connected with family abroad. She welcomed the news but said she will continue to press for the branch to remain at its current location in the long term.
The change is part of the Post Office’s national ‘Transformation Plan’, announced last year, to franchise all 108 directly managed branches and invest £250 million a year more into postmaster pay by 2030. The Post Office has pledged that no directly managed branches will close and that services will continue either at or close to their existing locations.
Liam Searle said he is excited to expand into Westbourne and hopes existing staff will stay on. His company employs around 50 people and will now scale up operations while keeping a close-knit team approach.