Stannington Postmistress - one of Britain’s youngest wins coveted retail superstar of the future award

Miriam Al-Bazz has faced a year of challenges running the Stannington Road Post Office but met them all head on.

The 23-year-old handled severe disruption from newspaper and magazine wholesalers by overseeing home deliveries and actioning problems as soon as they arose.

To ensure customers did not have to go without their daily paper, Miriam invested in an electric scooter, which allowed her to deliver newspapers herself.

Miriam is constantly looking at options to improve the retail offering in her Sheffield-based store, whether that’s ensuring the stock caters for the specific needs of her community or championing local produce such as honey, ice-cream and milk.

She also listens to and actions the feedback from customers on how to improve their experience.

Her hard work is inspiring and many of her customers regularly tell her the care she shows and the service provided at her post office have placed her at the ‘heart of the community’.

Miriam, who is believed to be one of the youngest postmistresses in the UK, was crowned a Better Retailing 30 Under Thirty winner for 2023.

She said: “It is rewarding to be given this award and to have my hard work recognised. I can see the difference my post office and the level of service provided makes to the community.

“Customers will often come in and say ‘thank goodness you are here to help me’ and they have also said that to them I am at the ‘heart of the community’ which is so lovely to hear.”

Miriam’s post office was originally bought and run by her father, Yousif Al-Bazz, who is still the official postmaster in charge but who has now taken a back seat allowing Miriam to take the reins as the postmistress-in-training.

She said: “A post office is a community landmark in the UK. People will always need their post office. A Post Office will always keep standing no matter what. This was brought home to me during Covid when our Post Office became a lifeline for the community and made me realise, I would like to be a postmistress and that my role is vital to my customers”