More than a third of the post offices that sit inside TG Jones shops are closing. The Guardian reports that 36 branches inside the chain, which traded as WH Smith until last year, have shut so far in 2026, and Post Office records it analysed show a further 34 are due to close by early 2027. That makes 70 counters out of the roughly 180 the chain hosted before its restructuring, a heavier toll than the 60 that had been feared over the summer.
For shoppers, this matters more than the loss of another newsagent. These counters handle parcels, online returns, cash deposits, bill payments, passport checks and driving licence services, and many of them took over from the old crown post offices that once anchored town centres. Several towns are losing two branches within months, and Telford is due to lose its last one in January.
In short
- 70 post offices inside TG Jones shops have closed or are scheduled to close: 36 already this year and 34 more by early 2027, according to Post Office records analysed by the Guardian.
- Up to 150 TG Jones stores out of the 450 acquired by Modella are expected to shut, with 110 closures announced so far, including all 70 that contain a post office.
- Towns losing two branches in a matter of months include Stevenage, Bracknell and Orpington, plus the cities of Hull and York; Telford loses its last post office in January.
- The Post Office says it is committed to replacing every TG Jones branch that closes and has interest in every confirmed location, but so far only Stirling has reopened, with Ipswich due in November.
- For online shoppers, the January closures fall right in the post-Christmas returns season, so it is worth checking your nearest counter, parcel locker or drop-off point now.
What exactly is closing, and how many post offices are affected?
The headline number is 70. According to the Guardian’s analysis of Post Office records, 36 post offices within TG Jones branches have closed so far this year, and a further 34 are set to close by early 2027. Before the restructuring of the chain won approval from creditors in July, TG Jones operated 180 post offices, so the closures account for close to 39% of the counters it hosted.
That is a bigger cut than expected. During the restructuring process, it had been feared that as many as 60 post offices could be lost. The new figure overshoots that estimate by around 10 branches, and further changes remain possible because some closure dates still depend on lease negotiations with landlords.
The post office closures are a subset of a wider shrinking of the chain. Up to 150 of the 450 stores acquired by Modella are expected to shut, the Guardian reports. About 65 have already closed and at least another 46 are scheduled to cease trading early next year, bringing announced closures to roughly 110. Every one of the 70 stores with a post office counter is among those 110.
| Measure | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Stores acquired by Modella | About 450 | The Guardian |
| Stores expected to close under the restructuring | Up to 150 | The Guardian; court reports |
| Store closures announced so far | About 110 (65 closed, at least 46 more early 2027) | The Guardian |
| Post offices in TG Jones before the restructuring | 180 | The Guardian |
| Post office closures feared in the summer | Up to 60 | The Guardian |
| Post offices closed in 2026 so far | 36 | Post Office records via the Guardian |
| Post offices due to close by early 2027 | 34 | Post Office records via the Guardian |
| Total post office closures | 70 (about 39% of 180) | shopappy calculation |
The percentage is our own calculation from the published figures. It assumes the 180 baseline is the correct starting point, which is the figure the Guardian gives for the network before the restructuring took effect.
Why is TG Jones closing so many stores?
TG Jones is the name Modella Capital, a private equity group, gave to the WH Smith high street business after buying it in 2025. The travel stores in railway stations, hospitals and airports were not part of that deal and remain owned by the stock market-listed WH Smith group. The high street shops, many of them large units in shopping centres and traditional town centre locations, carry a heavy rent and business rates burden relative to what they now sell.
In the summer, the chain used a court-supervised restructuring plan to cut its costs. Legal and trade reports say Mr Justice Hildyard sanctioned the plans on 1 July 2026, despite objections from some landlords and from a business rates creditor. British Land is reported to have withdrawn its objection after Modella made concessions. The plans cut rents sharply across the estate, with some stores paying no rent for several years, and allowed landlords to walk away from leases instead.
That landlord exit option is what is now driving the closure list. Bloomberg, citing the business plan, reported that roughly 150 landlords were expected to end their leases in response. Reports differ on the size of the cash injection Modella committed to the business, with most citing £15 million and Bloomberg citing £10 million.
Modella’s track record in UK retail has come under scrutiny. According to trade and legal reports, two other chains it owned, Claire’s and The Original Factory Shop, have entered administration. City AM reported this week that Modella had pulled out of the race to buy Poundland, which has been the subject of takeover interest from several parties, as we covered in our report on Poundland takeover talks with the Poundstretcher owner.
The closure wave at TG Jones has been building for months. In September, TG Jones closed 19 shops in a single month, and the risk to Post Office counters was already clear at that point. What has changed now is the scale: the records analysed by the Guardian show the post office closures running ahead of the worst estimate made during the restructuring. TG Jones was approached for comment by the Guardian.
Which towns and regions are losing their post offices?
The closures are spread across Britain, but some areas are taking a heavier hit than others. The Guardian names Essex, the West Midlands, Wales, Suffolk and Hertfordshire as particularly hard hit. Several towns are losing two post offices in quick succession because TG Jones closures are landing at the same time as closures inside Morrisons Daily convenience stores.
Essex alone is losing six post offices inside TG Jones stores. Branches in Basildon, Southend-on-Sea, Harlow and East Ham have already closed, and Clacton-on-Sea and Brentwood are due to shut in January. Five are closing in the West Midlands and four in Wales.
| Area | What is happening | Reported by |
|---|---|---|
| Essex | Six TG Jones post offices going: Basildon, Southend-on-Sea, Harlow and East Ham already closed; Clacton-on-Sea and Brentwood shut in January | The Guardian |
| West Midlands | Five TG Jones post offices closing | The Guardian |
| Wales | Four TG Jones post offices closing, including Bangor; Llandudno faces losing its TG Jones and its main post office | The Guardian; The Bangor Aye; North Wales Pioneer |
| Telford | Last post office in the town, inside Telford Centre, due to close in early January | The Guardian; local reports |
| Stevenage, Bracknell, Orpington | Each losing two post offices within months | The Guardian |
| Hull and York | Each losing two post offices within months | The Guardian |
| Ealing Broadway | Post office in the shopping centre due to close on 4 January 2027 | Ealing.News |
| St Andrews | TG Jones store due to close on 9 January 2027, with its post office expected to go too | Local reports citing the Daily Record |
January is the crunch month
Local reporting shows a cluster of closures in the first fortnight of January. In Telford, local reports say the post office in Telford Centre is due to close on 2 January 2027, about a week before the TG Jones store itself shuts, and the Post Office has said finding a new site could take around six months. In Ealing, the shopping centre branch is due to close on 4 January, with no replacement location announced so far.
In Bracknell, TG Jones has said its store is expected to close on 9 January 2027 after a closing-down sale. The Bangor store is also expected to close on 9 January, with the exact post office closing date still being finalised, according to The Bangor Aye. In St Andrews, a Post Office spokesperson told the Daily Record that its branch will “regrettably” close, though the official date may differ from the store closure date.
Why these particular branches matter more than most
Not all post offices are equal. A small counter in a village shop handles stamps, parcels and basic banking. The branches inside TG Jones were often a different proposition: the Guardian reports that the majority replaced former crown post offices, the large, directly operated branches that once sat at the heart of town centres.
That network of more than 100 directly run branches is now almost entirely closed. When crown offices were franchised into WH Smith shops, the services largely moved with them. Those included identity and passport checks, driving licence services and a fuller range of banking, which is why these counters were busier and harder to replace than a typical sub-post office.
So when a TG Jones post office closes, a town can lose its most capable counter, not just one of several. Shoppers in some places will still have a smaller branch within reach, but it may not offer every service. For anyone who needs a passport check or a driving licence application handled in person, the nearest full-service alternative could be in another town.
The small business dimension
The Post Office has itself told MPs how important these counters are to local traders. In evidence to a parliamentary inquiry into revitalising high streets, it said almost a third of small and medium-sized businesses use their local branch at least once a week, and more than half use the network at least once a month. Many small businesses reported that losing that access would threaten their viability within months, according to the same evidence as reported by the Guardian.
For an independent shop, the post office is where the day’s takings get deposited, where change is collected and where online orders are posted. The squeeze on these businesses was already visible in the ACS Local Shop Report 2026, which found convenience retailers facing a much heavier rates bill as investment stalled. Losing the post office next door adds travel time and cost to tasks that cannot easily move online.
How the closures affect online shopping, parcels and returns
The post office counter is a quiet piece of the UK’s online shopping infrastructure. It is where many shoppers drop off Royal Mail parcels, send back online orders and collect items that could not be delivered. When a busy town centre counter closes, that traffic has to go somewhere else.
The timing is awkward. Most of the remaining closures land in January, the busiest month of the year for online returns, when Christmas gifts that do not fit or are not wanted go back to retailers. Shoppers who planned to return items to a branch inside TG Jones may find it gone before their returns window closes.
The good news is that parcel and returns options have multiplied in recent years. Lockers, carrier drop-off shops and doorstep collection services now cover many of the tasks that used to require a counter. The table below compares the main options for a shopper whose local branch is closing.
| Option | Good for | Not suitable for | Things to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Another Post Office branch | Royal Mail parcels, returns, bill payments, basic banking | Some identity and licence services, which are only offered at selected branches | Which services the branch offers and its opening hours |
| Banking hub | Cash deposits and withdrawals, counter services run by the Post Office | Parcel drop-off is not their core purpose | Whether a hub exists or is planned in your town |
| Parcel lockers | Prepaid returns and collections, often 24 hours a day | Unlabelled parcels, cash and identity services | Whether the retailer’s returns label supports that carrier |
| Carrier drop-off shops | Returns using the retailer’s chosen carrier | Royal Mail-only services such as Special Delivery | That the label matches the shop’s carrier |
| Doorstep collection | Returns and parcels from home, useful for people without transport | Same-day needs; some services charge a fee | Booking cut-off times and any charge |
| Parcel postboxes | Small prepaid parcels and returns | Large items, anything needing a receipt over the counter | Size limits and location of the nearest one |
What retailers should do now
Online retailers with customers in the affected towns should look at how they describe returns. If a returns page tells customers to “drop it at your local Post Office”, a growing number of shoppers will find that harder from January. Offering at least one locker or drop-off shop route, and a doorstep collection option, reduces the risk that customers give up on returns or complain.
Sellers who post their own orders, including marketplace sellers running small businesses from home, should also check their nearest counter now. If your regular branch is on the closure list, finding an alternative before the December peak is far easier than scrambling in January.
What does the Post Office say it will do?
The Post Office has promised to replace every branch. In a statement to the Guardian, it said: “We fully recognise the challenging trading conditions that TG Jones and many other high street retailers are facing at the moment. We proactively sought expressions of interest from our postmasters and partners to take on post offices within TG Jones stores that may close as a result of their restructuring plan or any decisions taken by landlords.”
It added: “There is interest in taking on every location where it has been confirmed that a post office within a TG Jones store will close. In some locations there are over 40 applications from our postmasters who recognise the significant footfall operating a post office brings to their store … We’re committed to replacing every branch within a TG Jones store that closes and are working to progress applications as quickly as possible.”
The record so far is thin, though. According to the Guardian, only Stirling has reopened after a TG Jones closure. A permanent replacement for Ipswich is set to open in November, and temporary branches are to operate after closures in Maidenhead and Uxbridge. Elsewhere, local reports point to gaps: in Telford, the Post Office has warned that finding a new site could take around six months.
Why replacements take time
Opening a replacement branch is not just a matter of finding a willing shopkeeper. A new operator needs suitable premises, security fittings, staff trained on Post Office systems and an agreement on which services the branch will offer. Where a crown-style branch is being replaced, matching the full range of services in a smaller shop can be hard, so some replacements may offer less than the counters they replace.
There are encouraging signs in other towns. The BBC reported this week on a high street that got its post office back five months after losing it, which gives a rough sense of how long gaps can last when a replacement is found. The East Anglian Daily Times reported on a branch moving into a town shopping centre after a TG Jones closure, a sign that replacement operators are emerging in some places.
Is this part of a wider shrinking of the Post Office network?
The TG Jones closures do not stand alone. In the summer, the Post Office announced that 52 branches inside Morrisons Daily convenience stores would close this year, as part of a plan by Morrisons to close about 100 loss-making small stores. Some of those Morrisons Daily sites are close to TG Jones locations, which is why some towns are losing two counters in quick succession.
Separately, the state-owned Post Office announced in late 2024 that it would close more than 100 branches as it overhauled its business. It is still dealing with the fallout of the Horizon IT scandal, which has dominated its finances and reputation for years. The network remains large, but the closures are concentrated in exactly the town centre locations where footfall is highest.
| Closure programme | Branches affected | Host or driver | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| TG Jones post offices | 70 (36 closed, 34 due) | Modella restructuring and landlord exits | 2026 to early 2027 |
| Morrisons Daily post offices | 52 | Morrisons closing about 100 loss-making small stores | This year |
| Directly operated branches | More than 100 announced | Post Office restructuring | Announced late 2024 |
The closures also hit cash access. According to the Post Office’s evidence to the parliamentary inquiry, more than 6,800 bank branches have closed across the UK, and the Post Office “plays a critical role in protecting this essential service”. The Guardian reports that 250 banking hubs, which combine services for several banking brands, are now run across the UK by post office operators.
For shoppers who still rely on cash, and for small retailers who need to bank their takings, the loss of a town centre post office can mean a longer trip to deposit or withdraw money. In towns without a banking hub, the post office counter is often the last place to do everyday banking in person.
What unions and campaigners say
The Communication Workers Union, the largest union for postal workers, has warned that the closures could leave parts of the country without adequate postal services. Mole Meade, a senior member at the CWU, told the Guardian that the closures would leave some areas as “postal deserts”.
Meade added: “What we are seeing with the TG Jones closures is the continuation of a long-term strategy of cutting costs and chasing profit, with little regard for the communities that depend on post office services.” The union also said: “The CWU believes the Post Office should be focused on protecting and expanding access to services, not presiding over a continued reduction of the network.”
Local politicians are also getting involved. The Farnham Herald reported this week that the closure of the town’s post office has been confirmed, and that its MP has vowed to fight for a replacement branch. Similar campaigns are likely in other towns where a closure leaves no full-service counter nearby.
The concern goes beyond postal services. A post office brings regular visits to a high street: people come to send parcels, collect pensions or bank cash, and often shop nearby while they are there. When that reason to visit disappears, other shops on the street can lose trade, which is part of why the Post Office stresses the “significant footfall” a branch brings to its host.
That footfall risk lands at a difficult moment for the high street. Shoppers have become more cautious this autumn, as our coverage of September’s fall in UK retail sales showed, with volumes down 0.4% on the month and consumer confidence weakening sharply ahead of the Budget.
What the 28 October Budget could change
The Chancellor’s Budget on 28 October will not directly decide the fate of any post office, but it will shape the costs that make large high street units hard to run. Business rates are a central issue. Trade bodies have been pressing for relief for smaller shops, as we reported in our piece on Bira’s business rates asks for the 28 October Budget.
Large stores of the type TG Jones often occupies are among the most exposed to rates bills. If the Budget leaves those costs unchanged or raises them for bigger properties, landlords and tenants may find it even harder to make the sums add up, which could make replacement sites harder to find. If relief is extended or widened, smaller replacement operators might find it easier to take on a counter.
There is no sign that the Budget will include specific measures for the Post Office network. Any change to its funding or to the rules on how many branches it must keep open would come through separate government announcements, and none had been reported as of publication.
What should you do if your local branch is closing?
The first step is to check. The Post Office’s online branch finder lists open branches and the services each one offers. Notices are also usually displayed in branches before they close, and local news outlets have been reporting confirmed dates as they emerge.
If your branch is on the list, it is worth planning around the gap. The practical steps differ depending on what you use the post office for.
- For online returns: check which carrier your retailer uses. Many retailers offer lockers, drop-off shops or doorstep collection, which do not need a post office counter.
- For posting parcels: buy postage online and use a parcel postbox or a nearby branch. For larger or tracked items, find the nearest counter before the December rush.
- For cash and banking: find the nearest alternative branch or banking hub, and check whether your bank offers deposits by other means.
- For identity and licence services: these are only offered at some branches, so check the branch finder for the nearest one that provides the service you need.
- For small businesses: line up an alternative counter for deposits and parcels now, and consider whether collection services from your carrier could save time.
If your branch is due to close in January, the safest approach is to post Christmas gifts and any early returns while it is still open. For returns after Christmas, check the retailer’s returns window and its non-counter options before you start shopping, so you know where an unwanted gift will go.
Shoppers who rely on a closing branch for cash should also plan ahead. Banks typically offer other ways to pay in cash, but these vary, and a longer trip to an alternative branch is easier to manage when it is not urgent.
What happens next?
The closures will continue into the new year, with a cluster due in the first half of January. The Post Office says it has applications for every confirmed location and, in some places, more than 40 postmasters keen to take on a counter. The key test is how quickly those applications turn into open branches, given that only Stirling has reopened so far.
More TG Jones store closures are also possible. With up to 150 stores expected to close and about 110 announced, around 40 more store closures could still be confirmed. It is not yet clear how many of those, if any, would include a post office.
For shoppers, the practical message is simple: check your local branch before Christmas, know where your returns will go in January, and keep an eye on local news for replacement dates. For high streets, the closures add to a difficult winter in which footfall, rates and the loss of anchor services are all moving in the wrong direction.
Frequently asked questions
How many post offices in TG Jones stores are closing?
According to Post Office records analysed by the Guardian, 36 post offices inside TG Jones stores have closed so far in 2026 and a further 34 are due to close by early 2027. That makes 70 in total, out of the 180 the chain operated before its restructuring.
Is my local TG Jones post office closing?
Check the Post Office’s online branch finder, notices in your local branch and local news reports. The Guardian names towns including Stevenage, Bracknell, Orpington, Hull, York, Telford, Clacton-on-Sea and Brentwood, and local outlets have confirmed January dates in places such as Ealing Broadway, Telford and St Andrews.
Will the Post Office replace the closed branches?
The Post Office says it is committed to replacing every branch inside a TG Jones store that closes and has interest in every confirmed location. So far, though, only Stirling has reopened, a permanent replacement for Ipswich is due in November, and temporary branches are planned for Maidenhead and Uxbridge.
Why is TG Jones closing stores?
TG Jones, the former WH Smith high street chain bought by Modella in 2025, used a court-approved restructuring plan in July 2026 to cut rents. Landlords could end their leases instead, and up to 150 of about 450 stores are expected to close as a result.
Are WH Smith shops at stations and airports affected?
No. WH Smith travel stores in railway stations, hospitals and airports were not part of the Modella deal and remain owned by the stock market-listed WH Smith group.
Where can I return online orders if my post office closes?
Many retailers offer alternatives such as parcel lockers, carrier drop-off shops and doorstep collection. Check your retailer’s returns page for the carriers it supports, and use another Post Office branch for Royal Mail returns that need a counter.
What is a “postal desert”?
It is a term used by the CWU union for an area left without convenient access to post office services. The union warns that the TG Jones closures could create such areas, particularly in towns where the closing branch was the last full-service counter.
Are other post offices closing as well?
Yes. In the summer, 52 post offices inside Morrisons Daily convenience stores were announced for closure this year, and the Post Office announced in late 2024 that it would close more than 100 of its directly operated branches.