Christmas and New Year 2022
For those of you who like to start planning early for the Christmas holiday period, we have released our proposed opening schedule for Christmas and New Year 2022 below.
Christmas 2022
Important Dates
The last date for the input of live fish / coral LF12 service for pre-Christmas delivery is Thursday 22nd December.
The last despatch date for the road service to Northern Ireland for pre-Christmas is Wednesday 21st December.
The last date for the despatch of perishable goods is Thursday 22nd December.
All services will then resume on Tuesday 3rd January 2023.
As we have done in the past, we will suspend all regular collections from Thursday 22nd of December to the 31st of December inclusive and ask that you let us know on the day if you require a collection. The regular daily collection schedules will resume from Tuesday 3rd January 2023.
If you have any special requirements over the holiday period you can always let us know in advance using the link below or by contacting Santa’s little helper directly.
Please check back closer to Christmas to see if there are any updates.
Hints and Tips for successful seasonal deliveries.
Offer a delivery to the place where the recipient is most likely to be, remember most people often work during the day.
If the delivery is going to a residential property, consider the following before despatching: –
- Can the item be left with a neighbour?
- Is there a safe place where the recipient would like it leaving?
- Would the recipient prefer a delivery to their work place where possible?
- Please try to inform the consignee when you are despatching the consignment, so they can arrange to be in to accept the delivery.
- Please ensure that consignments are sent on the date specified when booking. If you book a consignment after the driver has left your site, ensure the next despatch date is used.
- Any residential deliveries especially those in rural locations must have at least two telephone
numbers so the driver can contact the customer to avoid any delays. - Any deliveries to a business location must include the contact name and mobile number of
the consignee to ensure the item reaches the intended recipient.
Addressing your freight
Please ensure where possible that the consignment number and delivery post code is written on each box, so that if a routing label is detached in transit it can be more easily identified by the team at the hub and sent on to its intended destination.
Please ensure your routing label is crease free and secured to the largest flat side of the parcel ensuring full scanning traceability through the network.
Trunk departures
In order that we meet our scheduled arrival time at the central hub it is paramount that our trunks leave on time. The knock-on effect of your items not being ready could result in your freight missing its connection. Unfortunately, we are unable to delay our trunk departure time under any circumstances, and if a collection vehicle arrives after the trunk has left the freight will be sent through the system the following day without exception. Please avoid holding the collection drivers at the collection point for ‘the one consignment that still isn’t packed’.
Early collections
At this time of year most customers orders increase dramatically. So, if your items are ready early please let us know as in many cases, we will have a driver available to make an earlier collection. If subsequently you require a further collection, then please contact customer services on 0151 481 5800 to make arrangements.
Christmas and New Year 2022 Operating Schedule
The following table relates to our APC Overnight operating schedule for the 2022 Christmas holidays. Our offices will be manned as detailed, but our Out of Hours Sameday service will operate throughout the holiday as normal.
Other Services Operating Schedules
Our Oversized Carriers Christmas and New Year operating schedule is available here.
Our Pallet Carriers Christmas and New Year operating schedule is available here.