Interviews
Pushing the Envelope
KST’s Long-Term Partnership and Collaborative Approach Gets Stamp of Approval from the Post Office in Reducing Risk to People and Property
When we talk about “pushing the envelope” in business parlance we are most likely referring to going beyond the usual limits, testing boundaries, and trying new or radical ideas that often involve risk.
It originates from aviation where it referred to testing an aircraft’s performance limits as the phrase originates from the concept of a “flight envelope” which graphically represents the safe operating limits of an aircraft. Pushing the envelope means exceeding those limits in the same way Tom Cruise’s “Maverick” character would deliberately press beyond the theoretical endurance limits of the aircraft and the pilot.
When we think about the modern Post Office, we assume that “pushing the envelope” refers to a rather sedate practice of selling stamps and moving mail around the UK, although this in itself presents a mammoth operation. In the financial year ending March 2023-24, Royal Mail, the Post Office’s demerged and distinct business responsible for postal services, delivered 6.6 billion items, a nine per cent drop on the previous year, according to Ofcom.
But the modern Post Office is far from sedate, and although it sells stationery, the direction of travel is far from stationary. Indeed, today’s Post Office is a dynamic entity moving at pace to manage the multitude of risks it faces in today’s modern world.
Hubs
It has always represented the beating heart of the community, none more so than today as it faces the challenges of providing additional financial services in rural and remote communities as banks close branches and increasingly drive business online.
In 2025, a total of 431 bank branches are scheduled to close across the UK, a charge led by Lloyds Banking Group—Lloyds, Halifax, and Bank of Scotland—which plans to divest itself of 217 physical banking outlets.
Furthermore, according to Money Week, NatWest will shed 105 branches, Santander will lose 95, TSB eight, and Barclays six, as part of a broader trend of banks reducing their physical branch networks as more customers shift to online and mobile banking.
To help fill this financial vacuum, one hundred and fifty banking hubs have so far opened across the UK providing access to cash and banking services where bank branches have closed.
Banking hubs are designed to offer face-to-face banking services with staff from different banks operating the hubs on different days.
More are destined to come online as LINK, the organisation which operates and connects the UK’s 100 million card holders with the ATM network has recommended two hundred and twenty-four hubs be introduced by next year, with more locations expected to be announced in the near future.
The gap will be taken up by the Post Office which boasts a network of over 11,500 branches, with many offering banking services through the Post Office Banking Framework.
History
The Post Office has long held the respect of the British establishment by Royal Appointment across the last five centuries.
The Post Office’s origins trace back to the reign of Henry VIII, who established the position of “Master of the Posts” to manage royal communications. In 1635, King Charles I opened the postal service to the public, though initially, recipients paid postage fees. The General Post Office (GPO) was officially established in 1660 by Charles II.
Individuals like Cardinal Wolsey, King Charles I, Oliver Cromwell, and Sir Francis Freeling played crucial roles in shaping the Post Office’s development with its influence spreading beyond these shores as its systems and practices influenced postal services in other parts of the world, including India.
Change, Innovation, and Technology
While the 18th century saw the introduction of mail coaches, significantly speeding up mail delivery between major cities, the 19th century brought further innovations, including the Penny Black stamp in 1840, uniform postage rates, and the introduction of pillar post boxes.
The Post Office continued to evolve, adapting to new technologies like the telegraph and, later, digital communication. The GPO was evolving to the new age to the point that it was reorganised and privatised in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, resulting in Royal Mail and Post Office Ltd becoming separate entities.
Risk
The ever-changing world of the Post Office has exposed it to huge levels of risk over the years. Internally, headlines continue to be grabbed by the ongoing fallout from the Horizon IT scandal, and the impact on sub-postmasters wrongly accused of theft continues to be felt as they pursue their compensation claims.
Externally, the fact that the Post Office handles millions of pounds of savings, pensions and benefits every week has always made it vulnerable to robberies and burglaries, acts of aggression, and threats of intimidation and violence against its colleagues as well as attacks on its property including gas and ram raids on its ATM that have decimated store fronts rendering the business inoperable for days. Often the damage caused far exceeds the amount of cash stolen as a result of having to repair and even rebuild stores.
“We’ve had gangs breaking into fire stations to steal the “jaws of life” with which to target our safes,” said Mark Dinsdale, the head of security at Post Office Ltd.
Mark, who has been at the Post Office for more than thirty years, added: “Our solutions need to evolve with the threats. Every day a lot of banking institutions are leaving the high street which makes the Post Office the only place people can go.”
“We have three areas of focus: our people, our assets, and preventing the loss of trading.”
This evolution has included a long-term partnership working with Kings Secure Technologies (KST).
In July, Kings Secure Technologies (KST), a leading provider of specialist security, fire and life safety technology, announced the extension of its prestigious contract with Post Office Ltd until 2029.
KST, which has worked with Post Office Ltd since 2011, was delighted with the recognition of its work protecting an institution which is a core part of the national infrastructure.
In its extension announcements, KST, said: “It is essential that the Post Office network has the appropriate security controls in place to ensure that it is not affected by issues that could impact the service it provides to its customers, clients, and the wider community. With an expansive estate of over 11,500 Post Office branches, fifteen cash centre depots, and three main admin offices, first class delivery, and compliance is of the utmost importance.”
The two organisations have built a trusted partnership over the years. KST has consistently reviewed its first-class service, identifying opportunities to reduce cost and improve efficiencies in areas where the benefit could be reinvested in significant savings for the client.
Bob Forsyth, chief executive officer of KST, said: “We are delighted to announce the extension of our contract with Post Office Ltd and the continuation of our successful relationship. The team at KST prides itself on having provided exceptional and reliable critical security services to Post Office, keeping their postmasters, assets, customers, and clients secure through vigilance and proactive engagement.”
Mark Dinsdale said: “The safety and security of our postmasters, the public, and our colleagues is top priority for Post Office Ltd. Under the extended contract, KST will continue to be responsible for the provision of property security, Grapevine, and Business Support Services for our extensive portfolio.”
Grapevine is an intelligence-led service developed by KST to provide bespoke crime prevention and reporting support to the Post Office network. It involves security professionals proactively liaising with retailers and the police, offering services such as crime pattern analysis, fraud investigation, and surveillance.
One of the challenges that KST faced was the availability of broadband lines. Each Post Office had its own internet connection, but they were utilised for payment terminals as well as other critical functions and did not have the bandwidth to accommodate CCTV images as well.
This is where CSL Routers provided a dedicated, encrypted, 4G connection to send the CCTV images from the Post Office to Grapevine. This enabled the successful installation of Axis IP, pinhole, and external cameras.
Axis IP cameras, connected to CSL Routers, were identified as providing significant protection to postmasters. When activated, a button which sits behind the counter of a Post Office sends live images directly to Grapevine. This reassures postmasters that help is available 24/7, should an incident occur.
“During the initial tendering process, we were impressed by the quality and competitive value offered by KST, and also by their ability to meet our business and requirements. We are delighted to extend this contract with KST and look forward to further developing our trusted relationship,” added Mark.
Due to this successful long-term relationship, KST has supported risk management with monthly reporting and analysis of threats. Using the Post Office’s own data through reported incidents and supported by open-source data such as Police Incidents, KST is able to make recommendations to minimise threats and advises on technology that can support with this.
All risk is driven through KST’s Technology Monitoring Centre.
Guy Tucker, KST’s head of group solutions, said: “Our fully protected and highly accredited Technology Monitoring Centre (K-SOC), alongside our Compliance and Risk Management solution from Quidvis provide round-the-clock monitoring and intelligence-led analysis and reporting, actively preventing criminal activity on our clients’ site.”
CVIT Drivers
Body worn cameras is an example of this. One of KST’s key objectives is to support the Post Office across its estate including Cash and Valuables in Transit (CVIT) crew drivers of the Post Office who were being targeted by criminals due to the high value of the cash.
Crew drivers undertake a challenging and often dangerous job, with an ever-present risk of robbery when they are on duty. The role that CVIT crew drivers play within society is essential to ensuring that cash supplies are replenished in order to keep the economy running.
As part of the brief, KST identified the risks the CVIT crew drivers were facing in terms of violence and abuse during perpetrator-led attempts to steal the cash, many of which would be successful and produce little evidence to seek prosecution.
Here, KST needed to provide a solution which eliminated these issues but also factored in that the solution needed to be user-friendly and comply with Privacy and Data Protection Laws.
An upgraded approach to the security was developed after a trial that involved the issuing of body worn cameras to fifteen of the Post Office’s CVIT crew drivers. Following the successful pilot, KST was commissioned to begin a project issuing body worn cameras to the nationwide depots of the one hundred and thirty CVIT crew drivers.
Despite helmet protection, the Post Office CVIT crew drivers were being targeted due to the high value of the cash. This meant that not only were members of staff at risk, but there was financial loss due to the stolen cash.
Taking on board industry guidelines and advice such as best practice for CVIT crew drivers and using the intelligence gathered through the reporting for the client, an upgraded approach to the security was developed. With the CVIT vehicles already fitted with cameras that record and store footage, this gathered evidence to use for prosecution.
However, working alongside MotoMax, a leading supplier of vehicle CCTV, the project took a change of approach to the existing video surveillance by proposing a solution which would allow the live streaming of the cameras into the KST monitoring centre, as well as tracking the vehicles.
The MotoMax solution enables the Grapevine Intelligence CCTV operators to view the fleet in real time, select any camera on the vehicle to monitor the surroundings and safety of the drivers as well as view the GPS location of the vehicles at all times.
With the CCTV footage being continually scrutinised by Grapevine, operators are able identify potential threats and advise in advance as well as during an incident, thus facilitating the ability to assess and escalate in real time and rapidly respond by directing the correct law enforcement teams as well as bringing in the necessary protection for the lone worker, for example.
This ability to monitor all vehicles during the working day has provided the Post Office with comprehensive coverage over a wider number of routes, greater flexibility and better support for more CVIT crew drivers. It also provides a highly visible deterrent on the vehicles.
Live Streaming CCTV
“CVIT crew drivers no longer need to activate the attack button, as all our cameras record continuously. This footage can be used as evidence to support any subsequent prosecution,” said Mark.
“Such solutions enable remote monitoring and form part of what we call “the smart Post Office”. Everything is in one place,” he added.
“Cameras like these or in our branches detect everything from serious robberies to sleight of hand, and this can be reported through the Grapevine desk. We assess the danger and can provide text blasts to show we are aware of the threat.”
“We receive approximately 350 alerts every month which result into text blasts being sent to registered Grapevine users—postmasters, CVIT centres, etc—which equates to around 250,000 each year.”
Other technologies are also in play including “fogging”—an alarm-triggered smoke screen to disorientate burglars or robbers attempting to break in or affecting a getaway—and more recently they are combining this technology with strobes and sound bombs to deter burglaries.
Open Plan
Conversely, while trying to secure sensitive areas, the modern Post Office is moving away from the “fortification” of their premises towards more open plan trading floors. This is already the case across five thousand of the Post Office estate, a move that has yielded success.
In the last year, rather than an increase in robberies, there have been around sixty, less than half the rate prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. This has been achieved with a smaller security team and greater use of technology including the remote monitoring of stores.
“Despite being open plan through the removal of the screens, we have found that aggression is generally reduced,” said Mark.
“Most postmasters will thankfully never see or experience a robbery, but we are prepared to move into action when they do occur—it provides peace of mind because no one should come to work frightened to do their jobs,” said Mark.
Paul Ottley, managing director and KST board sponsor for Post Office, said “we are 100 per cent confident in the collaborative partnership and innovation—it is a brilliant relationship that is open and fully transparent.”
Artificial Intelligence
Risk solutions at the Post Office continue to evolve, and Mark, in conjunction with the wider KST team has been engaging AI to enable wider efficiencies.
“There is no such thing as business as usual at the Post Office—we are constantly focussed upon improvements,” he said.
“There are so many moving parts in maintaining what we have, it sometimes feels like painting the Forth Bridge.”
“We need to be able to better respond to challenging behaviours and we are looking at AI in terms of predictive patterns in aggression detection, for example or loitering and anti-social behaviour. Technology and machine learning are moving forward, and while AI can’t accurately tell us where the next target will be, it can assist in analysing predictive patterns and risk modelling,” he added.
Mark is also acutely aware that the Post Office is not “an island entire of itself” and reaching out to other industry groups—the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS), and ORIS Forums—as well as the wider law enforcement community is essential.
By so doing, the Post Office continues to push the envelope in better protecting its people and assets. As an ancient institution, it is far from an antiquated and outdated service. Indeed, its roles and responsibilities for managing the UK’s cash flow have increased as the world of physical banking beats a hasty retreat from the high street and village square.
Caring is always about sharing and the Post Office can only fulfil this increasing role through receiving the stamp of approval from its professional partnerships.
