Amble postmistress retires after 28 years’ loyal service
Amble Postmistress Susan Swinhoe has retired from running The Harbour Post Office after over 28 years’ loyal service to the community.
Sue Swinhoe has retired after 28 years running the Harbour Post Office
Having spent many happy summer holidays in Amble staying in her parent’s caravan, the long serving community stalwart couldn’t resist a local advertisement asking for applications to run The Harbour Post Office.
Following a successful application, Susan’s Post Office career began in earnest. She moved with her husband and two young children from her hometown of Wideopen and became Postmistress on 12 November 1992, she has remained at the helm ever since, serving her local community for over 28 years.
Post Office Area Manager Neil Barnard commented: “We are extremely grateful for Susan’s commitment to the area; she has been a great asset to the business and has served her community for an amazing length of time. I thank Susan for her service and wish her every happiness for the future.”
When Susan started back in 1992, she recalls memorising names from pension books to help build relationships with her customers, many of these customers, who are now on first name terms, have continued to visit the branch throughout. Amazingly, due to the length of Susan’s service, many customers who first visited her branch as babies now visit the branch with their own children.
Postmistress Susan commented: “I am really proud to have worked for the Post Office for nearly 29 years. I have absolutely loved serving this wonderful community. I would like to thank all my fantastic customers, they have made my time at The Harbour Post Office so enjoyable, I will miss them all so much. It would also be remiss of me not to extend my grateful thanks to my colleague Gill who has helped me run the branch for 13 years.”
Although her time at The Harbour Post Office is coming to an end, Susan still wants to continue doing the job she has loved for such a long time, she has already agreed to work part-time at the nearby Warkworth Post Office.
Susan admits she couldn’t have achieved this incredible feat without the support of her husband James, children Vicky and Scott and his wife Sami. She now hopes to spend more time with her granddaughter Esme.
Sugarnan Ramachandran is now running the Harbour Post Office from his Nisa shop on Newgate Street
The community will be pleased to know that Post Office services have been maintained in the area. Susan has passed the baton over to Mr Sugarnan Ramachandran, who will operate a Post Office at his Nisa store in Newburgh Street. A Post Office counter will run alongside the retail counter. Opening hours are Monday to Friday: 8am – 7pm; Saturday and Sunday: 9am – 4pm – offering 80 hours of Post Office service a week. Facilities are now available all-day Friday and Sunday, plus Saturday afternoon, with an end to lunchtime closing.
