Give us your vision of Ireland’s Post Office network. Be part of a competition that matches students from Ireland’s Institutes of Technology with the search for the Post Office of the Future and your team could win €5,000.
Ireland is changing. Business and communities are challenged as never before. An Post is open for business and ambitious for the future, with an unrivalled retail network serving local communities and businesses.
Now we are looking for your vision for a secure, profitable and sustainable future for the Post Office still at the centre of Irish life and commerce.
Today’s 1,150 Post Offices handle 1.7 million customer visits every week, via the largest network in the country. The Post Office is a one stop shop for goods and services; offering mail, financial and communications services as well as being central to the delivery of many state services.
Post Offices help you manage your money, access your cash, pay bills, stay connected, get great insurance, along with invaluable savings products and straightforward money transfers.
The theme of the competition is Post Office of the Future - Open for Business and the challenge is to come up with ideas on what the Post Office will have to offer its customers in the years to come. The competition is for postgraduate students only and entries are confined to three teams of up to five people per Institute.
On offer are two cash prizes of €5,000, for the teams who put forward the best proposals for rural and the other for the urban Post Office of the Future.
From there it is all up to you. Entries could include design, models, artworks, product range and a business plan. Special marks will be awarded for the most innovative range of products and services available in the futuristic Post Office.
What we do is provide a sample case study of two Post Offices (one rural, one urban). What you do is add your creativity and knowledge and come up with a vision of how one of our representative Post Offices survives and thrives in the future.
POST OFFICE: RURAL ….Is situated on the Main Street of a medium sized town just seven miles from the nearest major town. This is a stand-alone Post Office which has been run by three generations of the Flanagan family with the assistance of long serving staff who are all highly experienced with the range of Post Office services and transactions. It is a busy office with a steady stream of customers, mainly Department of Social Protection clients to collect their payments, pay bills and do some savings. They also do a significant mails business in terms of postage stamps sales and use of the Registered Service. The Postmistress, Maureen Flanagan, feels that she would like to better promote her existing services to her customers as well as offering new services to attract those who would ordinarily not use the Post Office. Her Office, which she moved into just two years ago, was previously a small village shop and she works full time in the Post Office and runs the two counter position office with two other staff.
POST OFFICE: URBAN… Is situated in a busy supermarket in a growing suburban area. Brian McGee took on the contract and located the post office in his supermarket premises when the local stand alone office closed down after the former Contractor retired. His primary reason for taking on the contract was to benefit from having the footfall in his retail premises. He employs a manger to operate the post office and while he keeps a supervisory eye on it, he is not actively involved in the day to day running of the post office but rather primarily focuses on the development of his retail business. Mornings are particularly busy when they are processing Department of Social Protection payments and there is good cross business between the post office and the supermarket. The office is situated at the rear of the supermarket, so that customers have to pass through the shop to get to the post office. This brings a healthy stream of customers to the shop. It is a busy office and over the years Brian has seen more customers using financial and insurances service and more recently Postfone and foreign exchange. The post office operates three counters operated by the manager with the help of three staff (two fulltime and one part time).
Post Office Network – Key Points:
- 1.7 million customer visits every week.
- 1150 Post Offices nationwide.
- Largest retail network in Ireland.
Competition Criteria
The winners in each category will be the teams who demonstrate the most innovative developments in the Post Office of the Future-Open for Business. Special marks will be awarded for the range of products and services being made available to all customers in our futuristic network of Post Offices throughout Ireland.
- The Post Office of the Future-Open for Business should have a particular focus on financial products and services that can be provided, to enhance those currently available to our 1.7 million customers every week.
- While innovation will be a key component of the winning entries, these new ideas must have a practical application.
- Flexibility in incorporating the existing An Post colour scheme, logo and branding would be encouraged. However a radical redesign of those currently in use is not required.
- Relevance to your chosen Post Office category (urban or rural) should be reflected in your entry e.g. dimensions, services available.
- Entries could include, but are not limited to, the following:
a. Product range – services available
b. Design – models, artworks, sketches, graphics
c. Business/marketing/public relations plans
Competitions T&C’s
Eligibility
The competition is open to Post Graduate students in the following Institutes of Technology:
- Cork Institute of Technology
- Limerick Institute of Technology
- Institute of Technology Sligo
- Institute of Technology Tallaght
- Letterkenny Institute of Technology
- Dundalk Institute of Technology
- Institute of Technology Carlow
- Dun Laoghaire Institute of Technology
- Institute of Technology Tralee
- Dublin Institute of Technology
- Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology
Teams of up to five people can enter, to be drawn from any of the relevant faculties such as advertising, marketing, business studies, public relations, journalism, retail management, art and design.
Only three teams from any single Institute can enter the competition. An exception applies to DIT where a full complement of three teams is eligible from each of the colleges located at Aungier Street, Kevin Street and Mountjoy Square.
If more than three teams wish to apply from the same Institute, the decision on who should compete must be made in the Institute.
Submission format
Entries are welcome in a wide variety of formats, including Powerpoint, Word, art works, digital and video clips, models etc.
Please note that entries will not be returned once submitted, so please make a copy for your own use.
Entries must clearly state whether they are for a Rural or Urban Post Office.
An Post may use any material and rights in any entry as it sees fit.
Prize
There are two prizes for the winning teams, one for the Rural Post Office of the Future and one for the Urban Post Office of the Future.
Each winning team will receive €5000 in cash.
Prizes may be awarded by An Post and the Irish Postmasters’ Union.
There will also be Highly commended categories and award certificates will be presented.
A prize giving event will take place in May. Finalists will be notified in advance.
Winners will be chosen by a judging panel. Judges’ decision will be final and no correspondence will be entered into thereafter.
Closing date for entries
Teams must submit their final entries by March 23rd , 2012.
All entries should be sent to:
Irish Postmasters’ Union
Pier 19
6/8 Usher’s Island
Dublin 8
All entries must be clearly marked ‘Post Office of the Future submission’.
Further queries
Further queries can be made up to March 23rd 2012. Queries will only be accepted via email to info@postofficeofthefuture.ie.
Further information about the range of services provided at post offices and the Irish post office network can be found on both the An Post and Irish Postmasters’ Union websites – www.anpost.ie and www.postmasters.ie .