Morrisons apologises and blames ‘operational challenges’ for regular closures of sub-post offices and full closures of two stores in Bishop’s Stortford

A supermarket chain has apologised and blamed “operational challenges” at two Bishop’s Stortford convenience stores after sub-post office counters were regularly closed temporarily and the shops themselves were shut without warning.

Morrisons took over the McColl’s Retail Group – which ran newsagents at Snowley Parade in Manston Drive, on the Parsonage estate, and Thorley Neighbourhood Centre under the Martin brand – after it was rescued from administration in May 2022, securing 16,000 jobs nationwide.

Both Stortford premises were converted into Morrisons Daily stores – along with the one in Bell Street, Sawbridgeworth – and more grocery items, with milk and bread on sale, were promised. The sub-post office facilities would continue, as would the sale of newspapers.

But since the shops opened earlier this year there have been regular closures of the sub-post offices and, at times, sudden closures of the whole stores.

When the stores were open, angry residents have reported being unable to process parcels as staff working at the time were not trained to work at the post office counters.

One man posting on Facebook reported that when he went to the Thorley store on Saturday Oct 19 it was in darkness at 9.15am with a sign on the door saying the post office would be open for the morning only, from 9am.

The Snowley Parade store is supposed to open from 6am-8pm Mondays to Saturdays and 7am-8pm on Sundays, while the opening times for the Thorley Park store are 6.30am-8pm Mondays to Saturdays and 8am-8pm on Sundays.

But last Wednesday (Oct 23) the Snowley Parade store was closed and newspapers were left outside. The store was similarly closed on Saturday October 19 and September 21, and again all the day’s newspapers left to the elements.

Although some residents have criticised some staff for being rude, others have defended workers at the stores, saying Morrisons is to blame.

One man said he had sent four complaints to the supermarket chain and one to Post Office Ltd, adding: “Either they cannot get staff, train the existing staff or just have people available to cover the store and PO counter – it’s a total mess.

“All down to Morrisons – they just cannot seem to keep the good people or recruit sufficiently to man it.”

William Stringer, of Manor Links, contacted the Indie over the issues at the Snowley Parade shop, branding organisation of the store by the regional senior leadership team “reprehensible”.

He said the shop had regularly failed to deliver his Daily Mail newspaper and he was considering cancelling deliveries.

The Indie was contacted in August by the parent of a paperboy, after late payment of his wages at the Snowley Parade store leading to a backlog of £250. A spokesperson for Morrisons told the Indie the problem was resolved internally, but there have been more issues surrounding the working hours of the deliverers.

On Monday (Oct 28) a spokesperson for Morrisons apologised to customers for “some of the operational challenges we have faced over the past few weeks in our Bishop's Stortford stores”

The statement continued: “On Post Office services - We've been working hard to ensure our team members have the essential training required for processing transactions and the mandatory checks required by Post Office Limited.

“On unforeseen closures - We apologise to customers for the inconvenience caused during these times.”

A Post Office spokesperson told the Indie: “Manston Drive and Thorley Park post offices have been experiencing some short-term staffing issues and we apologise for any inconvenience that this may have caused. Morrisons that operates these branches are working to address this matter.”