We’re pleased to share that we’ve successfully passed through both stages of the Post Office application process – bringing us one large step closer to bringing the Weston Pantry into community ownership.
After submitting our application in early August, we received the news on the 21st October that we had passed the financial assessment stage (which is an in-depth review of our business plan) and we had arranged our suitability assessment interview for the 5th November.
After a two-hour grilling of our business plan, knowledge of the Post Office and our staffing and operations plan, Linda and I were both very glad when it was over – but with the preparation support we received from PO Talent and the current owner, we felt it went pretty well!
Yesterday, on the 7th November, we received news from the Post Office that we had passed the suitability assessment and that our application to take over operations of the Post Office from the current owner had been successful!
We are now being referred back to the Post Office onboarding team to progress to the next steps in the Post Office transfer process – preparation of contracts, training and working with the Post Office team to set a transfer date (the date on which the Shop and Post Office is bought by the community!).
We are also working with our generous community lenders on finalising the loan amounts and agreements to raise the remaining funds.