Small firms at risk of postal chaos face holiday shutdown
A FAMILY business has been forced to shut during the busiest time of year because of “momentous” Royal Mail delays.
James and Catherine Hedges will be left more than £500,000 out of pocket after closing retailer JCH Products, which stocks thousands of items including festive fancy dress.
The couple said the risk of items arriving late and being returned by customers would cost them £116,000 in postage fees alone.
Other independent companies have also shut their businesses early over fears of bad reviews from customers whose purchases do not arrive on time.
It comes as The Daily Telegraph can reveal Royal Mail’s recommended Christmas post date this year is the earliest since records began in the 1880s.
The delivery service has suggested customers send gifts and cards by Dec 12 for second-class postage items to arrive in time for Christmas Day. This is in light of planned strikes by members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) on Dec 9, 11, 14, 15, 23 and 24.
Mr Hedges, 51, said this is the earliest his firm has ever closed during the festive season. “Royal Mail is a mess. We have Royal Mail staff coming in here and crying most days, they can’t cope. Right now we are just in it to survive.”
JCH, which started as a shop in Stroud, Gloucestershire, in the 1990s, posts up to 1,500 products per day. For the past few weeks, up to a third of customers have contacted the retailer to ask where their items are.
Tina Mckenzie, of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “Too many small firms are taking the decision that trading as normal just isn’t on the cards.”
Nick Landon, chief commercial officer of Royal Mail, accused the union, which represents 110,000 postal workers, of “holding Christmas to ransom”.
A CWU spokesman urged Royal Mail to “back down from forcing the ‘Uberisation’ of the company down workers’ throats and take a more mature approach”.
A Royal Mail spokesman said strike action was “putting more jobs at risk”: “We operate in a competitive market, and our customers have choices. Strike action will force our customers to make those choices sooner rather than later.”