Nationwide Sub Post Office Kiosk Network Agreement

RNS Number : 8361O

Minoan Group PLC

17 October 2012

 



17 October 2012

MINOAN GROUP PLC

("Minoan" or the "Group")

NATIONWIDE SUB POST OFFICE KIOSK NETWORK AGREEMENT

Minoan Group Plc, the AIM listed travel and leisure company, is pleased to announce that it has signed an exclusive agreement with the National Federation of Sub Postmasters ("NFSP") to install computerised travel agency kiosks across the UK's network of more than 9,000 sub post offices.

The purpose of the agreement is to create a national leader in the provision of easily accessible, online travel agency services, combining the technology and trusted brand of Minoan's Stewart Travel subsidiary, with one of the country's most extensive footprints of largely owner managed retail premises, all operating under the trusted Post Office brand.

Minoan will operate the kiosks under the brand name Postcard Travel, operated by its Stewart Travel division, and is aiming to set up a minimum of 1,000 kiosks over the next five years. An initial three month pilot phase will see up to 50 kiosks installed across local, largely market town based sub post offices, with a further 50 then being added every three months.

The combination of in-store access to the best choice of holidays available via the web provides new, excellent opportunities for, and will bring immediate benefit to, Minoan, sub post office shop owners and the general public. The current footfall across the sub post office network is more than 10 million customers per week. Most sub postmasters run their Post Office business under the same roof as another retail business. In urban areas this is often a newsagent or stationery business and in rural areas it is, typically, a village shop.

Each unmanned kiosk will comprise two computer screens, displaying a range of the latest holiday offers and a simple keyboard and touch screen facility allowing customers to browse the market and choose their holiday with just four touches. 

Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Minoan commented:

"We are delighted to announce this agreement. Travel is an important part of our business and one of our key drivers of growth due to strong margins and development opportunities. This agreement with the NFSP will enhance significantly our national position within the travel agency business. We believe this venture has great potential for value creation through the increased scale, synergies and growth of combining our Stewart Travel brand and online expertise with the scale of the sub post office network and the enthusiasm, hard work and entrepreneurial spirit of local sub post office owner managers.

In addition, it will provide the public at large with greater access to a wider range of holiday destinations, especially for those in more rural locations and with limited access to the mainstream high street and, often, restricted access to online services.

This venture should help local sub post office owners to grow their businesses and continue with the provision of Post Office services that underpin much of the country.  We believe the initiative will also provide a welcome stimulus to the economy at a time when the high street generally is coming under increasing pressure, resulting in the closure of a wide range of retail services particularly within rural towns.

The significant customer base of the sub post offices gives the Group a fantastic platform from which to build and we are confident that reciprocal growth of both our travel kiosks and the affiliated sub post offices will be achieved."

For further information see the notes to editors at the end of this announcement or visit www.minoangroup.com or contact:

Minoan Group Plc
Christopher Egleton	[e-mail]
Duncan Wilson	0141 226 2930
Bill Cole	020 8253 4305
WH Ireland Limited	020 7220 1666
Adrian Hadden/Nick Field
Throgmorton Street Capital	020 7071 0808
Forbes Cutler
Morgan Rossiter	020 7629 9101 / 07985 117 887
Richard Morgan Evans/James Rossiter

 

END

 

 

AGRBUBDGUDBBGDL