Post Office Ltd. was separated from the postal service Royal Mail in 1986 under the name Post Office Counters Ltd., and the name changed to Post Office Ltd. in 2001.Post Office Ltd. remains a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Mail Group Ltd. A large number of its branches are under franchise agreements.

There are currently around 14,000 Post Office branches across the UK of which approximately 370 are directly managed by Post Office Ltd. (known as Crown Post Offices). The majority of branches are either run by multiple franchise partners or local subpostmaster agents.