Prestwick Post Office spends £32,000 on revamp

Jan 21 2011 by Stuart Wilson, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

A POST office has been given a £32,000 revamp.

And Prestwick folk are now enjoying lavish facilities when going to send their letters.

Husband-and-wife team, Stephen and Cherlene Cooper, have re-launched the office at the town’s Cross.

A big money grant from the Scottish government has put the couple at the forefront of 21st century mailing.

And they are pledging to give Prestwick a first class service.

Stephen, 41, said: “The refurbishment has transformed this place into a shop which happens to have a post office attached.

“It’s absolutely fantastic and is just what we’ve always wanted.”

The couple, who received a £25,000 grant from the Scottish government, added £3000 of their own cash to £4000 from the post office.

The war chest has been spent on transforming the facility into a modern mail centre and Stephen said: “We wanted to make the office as bright and attractive as we could for the customers.

“Making it the heart of the community was also very important, so we have included a lot of local suppliers on the shop side of things. We have tablet on sale which is made in Fenwick, special envelopes made by a supplier in Prestwick and jewellery from Kilmarnock.

“There are also specially commissioned Prestwick tourist items on sale, so when you walk in you know exactly where you are.”

Eager customers lined up to check out the branch when it re-opened on Monday morning.

SNP MSP Adam Ingram was on hand to do the honours and he was full of praise for Stephen and Cherlene’s efforts.

He said: “I am positive that the service offered by Prestwick Post Office will be of enormous benefit to the people of Prestwick and the surrounding area and I wish them every success.”

He added: “This is a great example of a local post office being of great benefit to the community it serves.

“The Post Office Diversification Scheme offered up to £25,000 to 49 post offices across Scotland and it is fantastic to see that this is the end result.”