The post office in Eastcote has opened it’s doors for the last time before moving into a high street shop.

Eastcote’s branch of the Post Office has closed today (Wednesday, October 29) and it expected to open up inside card and gift shop Forget Me Not across the road tomorrow (Thursday, October 30).

The post office’s dedicated manager Isa Valji and most of his staff are making the move to Forget Me Not too, because they have so loved serving their local community.

Mr Valji, who lives just down the road from his post office in Field End Road, has worked for the company for 24 years.

Now 64, he says he is looking forward to continuing to help the people who visit him regularly.

“I’m moving with the post office for the sake of the customers,” he said. “We will be running the exact same service in the new premises and a few of the staff who are at the post office now are moving too, so there will be familiar faces for customers.

“It’s been so lovely to work here for so long, I have served families with very young children and now those children are coming in aged 27 with their own lives too, I have loved serving the community.

“I had customers coming in to take my photo before we closed, I could not believe it,” he said.

The move is part of a major programme across the Post Office network to make sure it is no longer reliant on Government funding and the local community took part in a public consultation on the move in August.

Some said they would be sad to see the post office close but Simon Burman, senior stakeholder manager at the Post Office, told neighbours the move was essential to ensure it could survive in Eastcote in the long-run.

“Eastcote branch is currently loss making, and we feel the best option for its long term viability is to partner with a nearby retailer,” he said at the time.

Eastcote Post Office in Field End Road

Speaking ahead of the move, Forget Me Not owner Jay Gadhia, said: “The shop is a double unit so we will narrow the current gift range down to the core range so we will free up an area which the post office counters will go into.

“There will be no reduction from the service that the current post office offers and we open on Saturdays from 9am to 5.30pm whereas the post office at the moment opens from 9am until 12pm on a Saturday, so people will have more time at the weekend.

“We also open on Sundays from October to December so that will give people another day to use the postal services.

“It’s also in a better location because people can use the shop’s car park and it is closer to the bus stop in Field End Road, so we hope this is a positive move for post office customers,” he said.