Let’s not lose sight of what Christmas is all about

Here we are again, the most magical time of the year… Oh wait, the country has ground to a halt amidst train strikes, Royal Mail strikes and we can’t afford to put the heating on! If you watch the news it’s all doom and gloom, and to be honest as a small business owner we’re not really radiating festive joy right now either!

You are probably reading this because your well-planned, thoughtful Christmas gifts aren’t under the tree, they’re not in Santa’s sack but a big grey one is a Royal Mail sorting office. You most likely ordered in plenty of time, allowed for the strikes and possibly have all your other items… But please don’t blame us! We did what we could, we worked weekends, we worked nights, we upgraded shipping (at our own cost) to prioritised services. Most items have got through, a few haven’t; but they’re out there, they’re coming – the good news is our gifts last all year!

If you don’t have your gift, we’ve written a little verse to help soften the blow, it doesn’t ruin the surprise or mention us, but it explains the situation – with a little humour. You can read it below, and download it here if you wish to use it.

 A gift worth waiting for
We’re sorry if your present isn’t under the tree,
Believe us everyone wanted it to be.
It wasn’t ordered last minute, there was time to spare,
But even Santa’s sleigh couldn’t magic it there.

Please know that, like elves, we’ve all done our best,
If only the post men weren’t ‘having a rest’!

Trust us, this present is worth waiting for,
And soon there will be a knock on your door.
It’s Christmas, the season of love and good cheer,
Enjoy today, because your gift will last all year.

Download the poem here

Supporting our posties

You might ask why we continue to use Royal Mail given the last few months uncertainty, unfortunately it isn’t easy to just change supplier for a couple of days – and sometimes it is just better the devil you know…

Royal Mail have a lot of technology in the background that makes our job easier, and ensures the right label gets on the right box. Other couriers don’t offer this – or make you pay a lot for it –  we want to avoid typing each address; one wrong button on a manual entry means your order isn’t going where it should! Last year we trialled a new service… Between unreliable collections, slow technology and late deliveries that didn’t last long! I guess we have been bitten by this experience.

We also want to continue to support our RM postal workers, from Jim the postie who collects our orders each day, to the customer service staff and team at our local depot who have given us special access to the yard to allow us to drop off more orders! They’re doing this for fair pay, for better terms and conditions – they’re losing a days pay each time there is a strike and then working extra hard to catch up. There is no over time available, some are coming in hours early for a shift just to help out.

So please, let’s keep the perspective here, Christmas is about the smiles, spending time with family and eating too many pigs in blankets (why are they just a Christmas delight?). Christmas is one day, make it about happy memories and please don’t consider it ‘ruined’