On 19 April 1897 a group of up to 90 subpostmasters assembled at the
Music Saloon, Wood Street, Wakefield to consider forming a national association to "improve the conditions under which subpostmasters labour and to undertake the advancement of our interests by all legitimate and honourable means". The federation was formed, with Wakefield as its headquarters, and the first conference was held in Nottingham on 11 April 1898. The first edition of a monthly newspaper
The SubPostmaster was published on 4 September 1899, and Joseph Ranns, founder and first National President, wrote the inaugural article. The magazine is still published today. In February 1947, the federation's headquarters moved to
Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex. The NFSP was originally a
trade union. In 2013 the Post Office stated that they did not recognise the NFSP for
collective bargaining purposes. Following a ruling of the
Employment Appeal Tribunal that subpostmasters were not employees of Post Office Ltd, but were engaged under a contract for services, the
Trades Union Certification Officer wrote to the NFSP to say that he believed the organisation did not meet the legal requirements to continue to be recognised as a trade union. Having rejected arguments against this by the NFSP, the Certification Officer stripped the organisation of trade union status on 13 January 2014. Via a democratic vote, members chose overwhelmingly to reject amalgamation with other trade unions. The NFSP changed its status to a trade association on 1 October 2016. Since 2016 membership of the NFSP has not charged a membership fee to subpostmasters. The NFSP instead receives funding from Post Office Ltd, consisting of an annual grant payment and funding for approved projects that are made under a Grant Framework Agreement introduced in 2015. The NFSP says its funding allows it to provide practical support to members but does not prevent it from challenging or criticising the Post Office. ==Horizon scandal==