The new Douglas post office in Strand Street will be open for business for the first time on Monday.
Post Office bosses say the premises, which are bigger than the Regent Street location, will provide customers with a modern facility and will be fully accessible for disabled customers, those with pushchairs and will feature a hearing loop for the hearing-impaired.
The post office on Regent Street is closing.
Originally it was going to move in with the Spar shop but that came in for criticism.
The shop will be run by Mannin Retail, a part of the brewery company Heron and Brearley, which already owned the premises.
At the Strand Street shop there will be six counter positions, including two at the front of the post office, which can provide fast transactions and our foreign exchange service.
In addition, there will also be two self-service Pay and Post kiosks for customers who prefer to make transactions themselves.
The kiosks enable customers to post letters and parcels, buy postage labels and pay utility bills (Manx Utilities Authority, Manx Telecom, Manx Gas, fixed penalties and government rents and rates).
There will also be the introduction of a ‘drop box’ positioned by the kiosks, for the posting of items transacted through the Pay and Post machines.
Meanwhile, a standard post box will be outside the new post office with collections throughout the day, from 6am until closing Monday to Saturday.
Post vans will be able to access the building via the lane at the rear of the property for collections and deliveries.
If access is required via Strand Street, the Post Office says it will be abiding by the access restrictions for delivery vehicles. Meanwhile, the post boxes outside Regent Street post office will remain in use and normal collection times for these will continue to apply after the relocation.
A new addition for Douglas post office will be what the Post Office calls a ‘queue host’.
He or she ‘will provide a warm welcome to customers on entry to the office and will be on hand to direct customers to their chosen point of sale and to answer any queries they may have’.
The opening hours will remain the same as the current location: 8.45am to 5.45pm, Monday to Friday and 9am to 2pm on Saturdays.
The nearest disabled parking spaces are by Markwell House in Market Street and at the junction of Granville Street on Loch Promenade.
The chairman of Isle of Man Post Office, Ray Harmer MHK, said: ‘Douglas will be the last of the two former crown offices to relocate premises under the operation of Mannin Retail and we are pleased that this long-running conversion project is now coming to a successful conclusion.
‘Isle of Man Post Office and Mannin Retail have worked together to ensure the new location provides a smooth transition for customers and will be a welcoming place to transact their postal business.’
Peter Whittaker, managing director of Mannin Retail Ltd, said: ‘We’re delighted to have been able to provide a convenient and dedicated location for the new Douglas post office along the main customer “flow” in Strand Street.
‘This conversion also makes an important contribution to the appearance and appeal of our main shopping street in Douglas.
‘We pride ourselves on our customer service and this new, larger post office will help us to deliver better access, higher standards and more convenience than ever before.’
It will be in the premises most recently known as the Carnival pub.
Previously it had been Rendezvous, Strand 58, Casey’s and, when it was two pubs next door to each other, the New Strand and the Legs of Man.
You can find out more information about the relocation of Ramsey and Douglas post offices here