Post and Gone

It is with a certain amount of sadness I report that Wincor Post & Go machines are no more in UK Post Offices.

The final curtain fell at a few minutes after 4pm this afternoon where the final operational unit at the Post Office situated in the Swiss Cottage WHSmiths (London NW3) was finally taken out of service .

Picture shows one of the final sets issued.

Yes there is a updated , more modern NCR  kid on the block , but there will always be a certain fondness for the first nationwide “toe in the water” for self service mail in the uk – the Wincor Nixdorf propostal .

What many collectors don’t realise is that this is also the end of “post and go” for the Post Office as the new NCR units are not Post and Go machines – the thinking being that they offer much more than “just post” . They are named “self service kiosk” ( or SSK)  units and so the signage around offices that have never had a a WIncor unit will not mention “post and Go”

The “Post and Go” terminology will live on however , but now will only apply to the stamps produced by Royal Mail .

Self service will never be quite the same again .