THRIVING Radcliffe sub-post office could take delivery of the ultimate “stamp” of approval next month.

Thanks to the business acumen of Paul Bolger, the Black Lane post office is in the running to be crowned a winner at a UK-wide awards ceremony in London on June 15.

It has been shortlisted for the “best agency branch” accolade in the Post Office’s network sales awards, an internal recognition event.

Since taking over the helm at the post office in Ainsworth Road in April last year, the father-offive has turned around its fortunes as well as scooping the coveted “best performing post office in the North West” title at the end of last year.

Now, Black Lane is one of only two of the north’s 2,000 post offices to be nominated in its category for next month’s awards.

Although running the business is a departure from his previous career in manufacturing, Paul is no stranger to post offices.

He said: “I’m from Oldham and my dad has a post office there. I’ve helped him on and off for 15 years.

“Before coming to Radcliffe, I’d worked in Yorkshire for five years as a manufacturing manager. I took redundancy and I instantly began to look around for a post office. I spotted the Black Lane one within a month of taking redundancy and it took three months before I moved in.”

Hard work, determination and people skills have all contributed to the success which the 39-yearold has achieved in running the business. And the more customers the post office gets, the more salary he receives as it is business I do, from every customer who walks through the door, whether they’re buying a stamp or want a special delivery,”

he added.

Commenting on how he has achieved his success, Paul added: “When I took over the post office, it was really quiet. But I’ve been speaking to local businesses, letting them know I’m here.

“A lady who works for me, and who worked for the previous owner, has told me she can’t believe how busy it is now.

“I’m really pleased with how things are going and now I’m actually out-performing my dad.

A lot of it is down to customer service, which I pride myself on, and offering all the services people want.”

He has just installed an ATM facility at the post office to increase and enhance the customer offering.