New owners move in to restore Aviemore Post Office's fortunes
Aviemore has its Post Office back – and it’s already proving popular.
“We have an amazing amount of work to do,” said postmaster Stephen Bruce on Friday as the doors opened.
“We’re stripping it right back and customising it, from floor to ceiling. There’s a lot to do, but we are trading already and I have to say it’s been all go today.”
Staff member Iain Gemmill explained: “They just couldn’t wait, clearly. Loads of packages and parcels have been brought in from the word go. The omens are really good.
“It’s been quite hectic at times since the three of us are in the process of being trained up by the Post Office at the same time.”
Their trainer, who preferred to remain anonymous, confirmed the new team were “fast learners”.
Mr Bruce and partner Chris Lewis, who are no strangers to working behind a counter – the pair run the Kilted Fudge Company on the Dalfaber Industrial Estate at the north end of the village.
Mr Bruce reiterated the Myrtlefield Shopping Centre outlet would prove ideal for Kilted Fudge, which has been running since 2014. He said: “We’re doing really well at Dalfaber and we have a small shop there, but a lot of people don’t know we are there.”
He said recent publicity, including featuring in comedian Susan Calman’s Secret Scotland on Channel 5 earlier this month, has helped to raise their business’ profile.
All the same, a permanent Grampian Road presence – they will ultimately be open seven days a week and are already working six – will go a long way to repairing some of the damage done by Covid-19.
Mr Bruce said: “We no longer have the event outlets which have proved so lucrative, with the loss of the Highland Games season and the festival days.
“Things really did have to change – those events were our main business. I don’t know if they will be back next year. We are just trying to protect our business.
“We did look at the Post Office four years ago, when the postmaster was looking to sell it, but we were too new to our business.”
He and Mr Lewis were totally convinced that Aviemore fully warranted its own full-time, dedicated Post Office: “As I said before, this is not a village any more. Aviemore by any interpretation is a town now and people do not want to be driving five or seven miles to do their postal duties.”
The couple are planning to continue offering post office services, such as banking, as well as selling items such as lottery tickets, but sadly, they will be not selling newspapers. “We have to get fully established here, that’s the main thing at the moment,” said Mr Bruce.
