Christmas 2023 Posting Dates & New Year 2024 Opening Times

Order Tracking: Please use the tracking link sent with your dispatch confirmation or log into your account (if you created one) and going to My Orders > Order Information and using the "TRACK YOUR ORDER" link on the order information tab. This is the quickest way to track a delivery.

United Kingdom

For the latest time to place an order for delivery by Christmas, please see the table and notes below, but please don't play postage roulette: if your delivery date is important, allow extra time and order early!

All UK addresses except 'Highlands & Islands': -

Delivery Method

Service

Order by

Final Delivery ^

 Free/Economy Delivery *

DPD/RM

 2pm Fri. 15th

Saturday 23rd

Royal Mail

2nd Class *

Tracked 48

2pm Mon. 18th

Saturday 23rd

Royal Mail

1st Class * 

Tracked 24 2pm Thu 21st Saturday 23rd

Courier Saturday

DPD/RM

2pm Fri. 21st

Saturday 23rd

Express Courier  (Next Working Day) 

 DPD

next day

2pm Thu. 21st

Friday 22nd

Sat 23rd for exceptions

Notes

(1) We don't expect there to be any deliveries on 24th-26th December or 1st January 2024. Occasionally, couriers run extra delivery schedules to clear a backlog, but we are not advised about this and cannot book deliveries for these days.

(2) "Courier Next Working Day" service does not deliver at weekends.  If you want to specify a DELIVERY on a Saturday e.g. Saturday 23rd December please choose  "Courier Saturday" delivery method (for which the courier's charge is higher).  This will be handled by couriers DPD Local or Royal Mail Special Delivery.

* (3) Delivery methods marked with an asterisk use Royal Mail's "Tracked 24" and "Tracked 48" services. These are not fully guaranteed services and, although more than 98% of such consignments are delivered within 1 and 3 days respectively, Royal Mail does not guarantee this timeframe.  98% is pretty good but do you feel lucky?  Remember Murphy's Law and please order earlier if you can or choose Courier Express.

^ (4) The right-hand column shows the last day of deliveries (not dispatch). 

(5) "DPD" is the multi-award winning and carbon neutral courier "DPD" or "DPD Local". "RM" is Royal Mail.

Highlands and Islands 

Remote UK Addresses

Delivery method

Note

Order by

Last Delivery day ^(4)

Courier Highlands/Islands 

DPD

Tracked

2pm Wed. 20th 

Friday 22nd

International Destinations

We recommend that you order before 2pm on the dates below for delivery to non-UK addresses in time for Christmas.

 1 December Caribbean
6 December Australia, Greece, Italy, Portugal and New Zealand
8 December Africa, Central and South America, Asia, Far and Middle East
10 December Cyprus, Malta and Sweden
11 December Eastern Europe (except Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia), Turkey
13 December Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, Poland and USA
16 December Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland

 

More information:

Royal Mail Final Posting Dates

DPD Service Updates 

We will continue to send out orders as we receive them after the deadlines, but if you order by the deadline this guarantees dispatch if the item is in stock when you order it (our website will warn you if it's not in stock).

During the Christmas period our web site will still be taking orders but our hard working team will be putting their feet up and enjoying some well-deserved R&R, so we will be operating a limited service as follows: -

Christmas Opening Times 2023-'24

Friday 22nd December: closing at 5pm.

Saturday 23rd - Friday 29th December: closed for the Christmas holiday.

Wednesday 29th - Thursday 30th December: open from 9:30am to 5pm, with limited customer service.

Monday 1st January 2024: closed for stock take and New Year Holiday.

Tuesday 2nd January: open for business as usual.

Please Note 

There may be minor delays in processing orders placed after 2pm Friday 22nd December throughout the Christmas period, and orders placed after 2pm may not be processed until the next working day.

Orders to UK addresses placed after 2pm on Friday 22nd December using any delivery method except Express/Courier methods may take up to 3-4 working days to be processed.  These orders will be processed as soon as possible (likely within 1-2 working days of the order date) but Courier/Express delivery has priority and orders with other delivery methods may be delayed until the beginning of January if we are very busy.

From Tuesday 2nd January we are back at work and normal service is resumed.

Because we are closed on the Bank Holidays and weekends, even orders with Courier/Express delivery will not be processed/dispatched until the Next Working Day.

Orders to international addresses will be also be prioritised, but please allow an extra 2 working days. 

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy new year!

Last updated 15th December 2023