Royal Mail Service Update - Special Delivery Guarantee Reinstated

The Royal Mail have today announced that they are able to reinstate the Special Delivery timed delivery guarantee as follows.

Royal Mail services are recovering well across the country today, following the recent disruption caused by severe weather and large volumes of mail posted in the run up to Christmas. We are now delivering to almost all customers as services return to normal, although in some isolated areas we are continuing to deal with very large volumes of mail and some access difficulties. Areas where recovery is taking us slightly longer include some parts of Scotland, a small number of addresses in the SA, CF and LL postcode areas of Wales, Colchester and Chelmsford, the SE postcode district of London, as well as a limited number of addresses in parts of North East and North West England.

Re-instatement of the Special Delivery™ guarantee
The improved conditions and recovery of services across the country means we are now able to restore the guarantee for Special Delivery™ items posted from today, Wednesday 29th December. We are restoring the guarantee, which was withdrawn on 1st December, as we are confident we can now meet the service promise to customers.

Customers are reminded that deliveries will not take place on Saturday 1st or Monday 3rd January across the UK and additionally in Scotland on Tuesday 4th January 2011. Therefore, Special Delivery™ items posted by the last acceptance time on 31st December are guaranteed for delivery on 4th January, except in Scotland where the guaranteed delivery date is 5th January 2011.

Parcel Force - Service Update 23rd December 2010

Here is the latest installment in the exciting drama known as the Parcel Force snowy Christmas delivery service...

We’ve been working around the clock to collect and deliver as many items as possible, including working through evenings and weekends wherever we can. Our drivers have made a tremendous effort to ensure that as many parcels as possible are delivered by Christmas despite the very challenging weather conditions that they have encountered.

We anticipate that we shall deliver all parcels by Christmas in all but a very small number of areas where they are still inaccessible or we have had heavy snowfalls this week. The worst affected areas are in our Aberdeen and Charlton depots, where we are likely to be a maximum of 2 days behind.

Any parcels that are not delivered by Christmas will be delivered between Christmas and New Year and we would like to apologise for any inconvenience this may cause you.

We are pleased that we will be able to accept parcels for delivery into Scotland from Wednesday 29th December onwards across the whole of the UK.

Parcel Force - Weather Update 20th December 2010

Parcel Force are no longer accepting any parcels with Scottish postcodes into their network due to the backlog that they already have. The following shows the average delays in areas affected by adverse weather conditions across the UK. Other areas should be in line with normal expectations, though all service guarantees are currently suspended.

Scotland: Valid only for parcels already in the system.

Aberdeen: Up to a 4 day delay to deliveries in all areas. All AB & ZE postcodes affected.
Edinburgh: Up to 5 day delay to deliveries in all areas. All EH, FK & TD and KY1-4 & KY11-12 postcodes affected.
Glasgow: Up to 3 day delay to deliveries in all areas. All G, KA & ML, PA (Except PA39-40) and HS9 postcodes affected.
Inverness: Up to 1 day delay to deliveries in all areas. All IV, KW, HS1-8 and PH30-50 postcodes affected.
Perth: Up to 2 day delay to deliveries in all areas. All DD and PH1-26 & KY5-10 & KY13-16 postcodes affected.

North-East England

Cleveland: Up to 1 day delay to deliveries in most areas and up to 5 day delay into areas where access has only become possible this week (DL13 & 17, YO13). All DL & TS and YO7, YO11-18, YO21-22 & YO61-62 postcodes affected.
Leeds: No significant issues.
Newcastle: No significant issues.
Rotherham: Up to 3 day delay to deliveries in all areas. All S and DN1-12, 14-22 postcodes affected.
York: Deliveries very difficult in some areas, some delay should be expected.

North-West England

Carlisle: All drivers working but conditions difficult.
Deeside: All drivers working but conditions difficult.
Liverpool: Some delays should be expected. All WN, CH41-49 & 61-63, L1-40 & 67-75, WA1-12, 55 & 88 postcodes affected.
Manchester: Some delays should be expected. All OL postcodes affected.
Preston: Delays should be expected. Some areas are inaccessible. All BB, BL, PR, FY and LA1-7 & 11-16 postcodes affected. Inaccessible areas are primarily LA8 & 20 and BB8-9 postcodes.
Stoke: Delays should be expected. Some areas are inaccessible. All CW, ST, SK9-11, 17 & 23, WA13-16 postcodes affected. Inaccessible areas are primarily SK17 & 23.

Midlands

Birmingham: All drivers working but conditions difficult. All B, DY and WS postcodes affected.
Coventry: No significant issues.
Leicester: No significant issues.
Lincoln: No significant issues.
Nottingham: No significant issues.
Shrewsbury: All drivers working but conditions difficult. All LD, SY, TF and WV postcodes affected.

East Anglia

Cambridge: No significant issues, other than perhaps some rural areas.
Ipswich: No significant issues, other than perhaps some rural areas.
Milton Keynes: It has only been possible to get deliveries for town centres out today, so there will be delays to deliveries to all other areas. All LU, MK, HP4-5 & 16-23, NN12-13 postcodes affected.
North Essex: All drivers working but delays should be expected to deliveries. All CM and SS postcodes affected.
Norwich: No significant issues, other than perhaps some rural areas.
Welwyn Garden City: All drivers working but delays should be expected to deliveries. All AI, EN, HP1-3 & 6-8, SG1-19 postcodes affected.

South-West England and Wales

Bristol: All drivers delivering today, but with snow worsening some drivers will not be able to get to their areas. All BS & BA postcodes affected. Many BA postcodes are inaccessible.
Exeter: No deliveries at all today. All EX, TA and TQ postcodes affected.
Gloucester: All drivers are out, but police preventing vehicles from entering some areas such as the Cotswolds. All GL postcodes affected.
Hereford: All drivers working but delays should be expected to deliveries. All HR postcodes affected.
Newport: All drivers working but delays should be expected to deliveries. Some areas have become inaccessible. All CF and NP postcodes affected.
Plymouth: No deliveries today. All PL postcodes affected.
Swansea: All drivers working but delays should be expected to deliveries. Some areas have become inaccessible. All CF and NP postcodes affected.
Worcester: All drivers working but delays should be expected to deliveries. All WR postcodes affected.

South Central

Aldershot: All drivers working but delays should be expected to deliveries. All GU, RG12, 21-29, 40-42 & 45 postcodes affected.
Gatwick: All drivers working but delays should be expected to deliveries. All BN and RH postcodes affected.
Mitcham: All drivers working but delays should be expected to deliveries. All CR, KT, SM, SW2, 4, 8-9, 11-20 & 99 postcodes affected.
Oxford: All drivers working but delays should be expected to deliveries. All OX, HP9-15 & 27, RG8, 14 & 17-20.
Poole: No deliveries today. All BH, DT and SP5-8 postcodes affected.
Reading: No significant issues, other than perhaps some rural areas.
Solent: All drivers working but delays should be expected to deliveries. All PO, SO and SP1-4 & SP9-11 postcodes affected.
Tonbridge: All drivers working but delays should be expected to deliveries. TN1-22 & 30-40 postcodes affected. TN16 inaccessible.

London

Central: Possibly some delay to deliveries.
Charlton: Up to 3 day delay to deliveries in all areas. All BR and DA, E1, 3, 14, 77 & 98, SE2-28 postcodes affected.
Medway: Some drivers attempting to deliver double the usual number of parcels, however some delay likely. Some areas are now inaccessible. All CT, ME and TN23-30 postcodes are affected.
North-West London: Possibly some delay to deliveries.
Romford: All drivers are delivering, but some delay expected. All RM postcodes affected.

The Best Just Got Even Better!

We had often wondered what some customers actually use Magic Fairy 3 Bees Barrier for as it is regularly bought in such huge quantities that it can't just be used as a nappy barrier balm (well, not unless several of our customers have at least 10 children wearing nappies). Eventually we started to ask and it turns out that it is used as a general skin blemish aid - for sore chapped lips in this horrid weather, for insect bites in the Summer, for eczema with many customers reporting it to be the only thing that helps whatsoever. When Magic Fairy launched the organic version of this incredibly popular barrier balm we thought things couldn't possibly get any better...but we were wrong!

Magic Fairy have just launched this clever little Magic Fairy Organic BOTT Wand Balm Stick! B.O.T.T. stands for Beeswax, Organic Tea Tree. The stick is a twist up applicator, so you can simply smooth over babies clean bottom and hygenically protect your little one, without getting your fingers greasy or messy. Made from the purest most natural ingredients and effective for treating and preventing rash. This barrier will help keep natural moisture in the skin and keep nasty irritating urine and bacteria away. The tube sits perfectly in the pocket or changing bag so is a doddle to carry about. Now it isn't exactly the same as 3 Bees Barrier but it is very similar and in an easier to apply form so we know this is going to fly off the shelves. Priced at just £3.95 everyone should try it!

Royal Mail Service Disruption Update

This is today's update from the Royal Mail. This affects orders weighing under 1kg or under £75 in value.

The UK delivery network is recovering well from the weather conditions. However, last weeks heavy snowfall and icy conditions are continuing to disrupt the movement of mail into and across Scotland. Elsewhere, particularly in the North East and South East England, services are recovering well with deliveries and collections operating as normal in all but a few locations. Contingency plans remain in place across the UK and every effort is being made to restore mail services and deliver mail as quickly as we can.

Regional service information
We're sorry that there may still be some disruption to mail services in the following areas:

Scotland
Deliveries in the PA, DD2-DD4, PH, EH (Musselbrugh, Penicuik, Livingston, Bathgate, Tranet, Dalkeith, North Berwick, Dunbar, Haddington, Linlithgow, Bo’ness, and rural parts of Peebles), FK, KY, AB (Laurencekirk, Banchorv, Alford, Abovne, Ballater, Ellon, Altens, Dyce, Bridge of Don, Kittybrewster) and rural parts of TD postcode area may experience some disruption today.

Rest of the UK
Deliveries in the ST16-ST21 postcode areas may experience some disruption today. Generally weather conditions have improved considerably across much of the UK and the vast majority of deliveries are now taking place.

Premium Services Update - Special Delivery™
Whilst we are continuing to accept, prioritise and expect to deliver the majority of Special Delivery™ items, the impact of weather conditions mean we cannot guarantee the delivery of items the next day in all areas. Therefore, in order to provide customers with clear guidance, the guarantee for next day delivery remains temporarily withdrawn (since Wednesday 1st December 2010). We review this every day and will restore the guarantee of delivery as soon as we can assure customers we can honour the service promise in full. We’re really sorry for any inconvenience this may cause.

So to summarise, if you need anything by Christmas you'd better order ASAP!

Parcel Force - Important Information Adverse Weather Update

Good news....and not so good news from Parcel Force today...

Due to the continued thaw and the incredible effort by our drivers in all depots over the weekend, we have been able to deliver most parcels affected by the bad weather over the last two weeks. There are still some delays in the areas affected by the worst weather, namely in Scotland, North East England and South East London.

Whilst we haven’t been able to accept orders since the latter part of last week for the majority of Scottish postcodes, we will start accepting orders again for delivery into Scotland from Tuesday 14th December. However, in order for us to be able to deliver these parcels by Christmas, we will not be able to take any more orders after Friday 17th December - this will be the last despatch date for deliveries into Scotland before Christmas.

Please find below details of the Scottish postcodes which you will not be able to despatch to from Monday 20th December. We will review this later in the week when we have a better view of the anticipated weather conditions.

Aberdeen Depot - All AB postcodes, All ZE postcodes
Edinburgh Depot - All EH postcodes, All FK postcodes, KY1-4, KY11-12 & KY99, All TD postcodes
Glasgow Depot - All G postcodes, HS9, All KA postcodes, All ML postcodes, PA1-38 & PA41-78
Perth Depot - All DD postcodes, KY5-10 & KY13-16, PH1-26

We remain committed to continuing to deliver our normal high levels of service and would like to thank all our customers for their patience and understanding whilst we have been clearing the inevitable delays.

So if you live in one of the affected areas please order ASAP this week as we may not be able to dispatch until after Christmas otherwise!

Parcel Force Important Service Update Suspension of service for Scottish postcodes

We are really sorry to have to pass on the following message from our courier Parcel Force. This affects customers in Scotland who place orders weighing over 1kg or value over £75. Most, if not all, other couriers are also making similar announcements today.

I’m sure you will have seen details of the current weather across much of Scotland. These conditions mean that we need to take action now to ensure we can deliver the parcels already in our network for these Scottish postcodes, as well as continuing to deliver our normal high levels of service for the rest of the UK where conditions are improving.

The prolonged nature and extreme severity of the weather conditions being experienced across the majority of Scotland are virtually unprecedented this early in the winter and the forecast for next week is for very similar conditions. Whilst we will continue to deliver as many parcels each day as we possibly can, if we accept more parcels for the affected areas it will make recovery from the current position exceedingly difficult.

It is with deep regret that we have taken the unprecedented decision to not accept any parcels for delivery in our Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perth and Aberdeen depots until we are confident that we can guarantee delivery in time for Christmas. We will be reviewing the position daily and provide an update at the earliest opportunity.

We obviously realise the concern that this may cause you and your customers, but we believe this is the most appropriate and responsible action given the extreme circumstances that we find ourselves in.

We are awaiting a more detailed list of Scottish postcodes that are affected, and therefore by default those postcodes that aren't affected and will update this news page as soon as we have further information.

Weather Disruptions as at 8th December

Statement from Parcel Force

The situation across the majority of the UK continues to improve, with significant numbers of additional deliveries being made in many areas which have been affected recently by the severe weather.

In summary, the compacted snow and ice which remains across much of Scotland and North East England continues to severely impact on our ability to deliver and collect parcels in these worst affected areas. Additionally, whilst significant improvements have been made in some areas around Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and specific areas of South East England, we do also have some parcels for these areas held securely awaiting delivery and are making every effort possible to deliver these as quickly as we possibly can.

Our drivers are making deliveries in all areas again today (except our Glasgow depot where the driving conditions in the immediate surrounding area are too treacherous for our drivers to leave). There are also some areas where we will unfortunately not be able to accept any ad-hoc collections for the remainder of this week.

The safety of our customers, the general public and our employees remains of paramount importance. We would like to thank you for your continued patience and understanding during these continued difficult conditions and again apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Statement from Royal Mail

Delivery of mail
Deliveries are taking place in most parts of the UK today. In some parts of the country, particularly rural areas, snow and ice are making roads and pavements difficult or unsafe. Where this is the case, we are continuing to review the situation locally and will resume deliveries to customers as soon as we can safely do so. Volumes of mail may be lighter and delivery times may be later during this period.

Temporary withdrawal of the Special Delivery™ guarantee
While we are continuing to accept, prioritise and expect to deliver the majority of Special Delivery™ items, the changing weather conditions mean we cannot guarantee the delivery of all items the next day in all areas. Therefore, in order to provide customers with clear guidance, we are continuing to temporarily withdraw the Special Delivery™ guarantee for items posted from Wednesday 1st December 2010. We will restore the guarantee of delivery as soon as we can assure customers we can honour the service promise in full.

Weather Disruptions as at 6th December

The area of Friendly Baby (Bristol) is still snow-free....but very, very, very cold! Parcels are being dispatched as usual, though we are aware that not everyone is snow-free and this is causing delays to some deliveries. Please see the following service announcements from both Royal Mail and Parcel Force.

Severe weather update from Royal Mail

Mail collection, distribution, processing and deliveries are taking place across much of the UK, however, mail snow and icy conditions are continuing to affect our ability to maintain normal services in a number of areas today.

We have contingency plans in operation to keep mail moving and minimise disruption wherever possible. Our managers are regularly reviewing local weather conditions and we are committed to maintaining services to customers wherever possible. In these extreme conditions the safety of our people is our number one priority. We're sorry there may be a small, unavoidable delay to items posted in and out of those areas in which the severe weather conditions persist.

Deliveries are taking place in most parts of the UK today. In some parts of the country, particularly rural areas, snow and ice is making roads and pavements difficult or unsafe. Where this is the case, we are continuing to review the situation locally and will resume deliveries to customers as soon as we can safely do so. Volumes of mail and delivery times may be lighter and later during this period.

Whilst we are continuing to accept, prioritise and expect to deliver the majority of Special Delivery™ items, the changing weather conditions mean we cannot guarantee the delivery of all items the next day in all areas. Therefore, in order to provide customers with clear guidance, we have removed the Special Delivery™ guarantee for items posted from Wednesday 1st December 2010. We will restore the guarantee of delivery as soon as we can assure customers we can honour the service promise in full.

Parcel Force Service Update

A break in the weather conditions over the weekend has allowed us to make a significant number of additional deliveries over the weekend. Unfortunately we have seen a return of the blizzard conditions in Scotland which is forecast to spread to Northern Ireland today. Furthermore, compacted snow and ice on roads is impacting on our ability to deliver and collect in parts of the North East and South East England. Any updates on the ongoing situation will be available each day on the Service Update page at www.parcelforce.com.

Our drivers are out delivering in all areas today.

The safety of our customers, the general public and our employees remains of paramount importance. We would like to thank you for your continued patience and understanding during these continued difficult conditions and again apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Weather Disruptions as at 2nd December

Friendly Baby is in an area not affected by snow so orders are being dispatched as normal, however deliveries may be affected depending upon the area that you live in.

Todays statement from Royal Mail (affecting express delivery orders weighing under 500g and standard delivery orders weighing under 1kg):

Mail collection, distribution, processing and deliveries are taking place across much of the UK today. However, snow and icy conditions are impacting on our ability to operate normal services in a number of areas. Mail services in Scotland, Northern England, parts of South West, South East and Wales continue to be the most affected by the current weather conditions.

We have contingency plans in operation to keep mail moving and minimise disruption wherever possible. Our managers are regularly reviewing local weather conditions and we are committed to maintaining services to customers wherever possible. In these extreme conditions the safety our people is our number one priority. We're sorry there may be a small, unavoidable delay to items posted in and out of those areas in which the severe weather conditions persist.

Deliveries are taking place in most parts of the UK today. In some parts of the country, particularly rural areas, snow and ice is making roads and pavements difficult or unsafe. Where this is the case, we are continuing to review the situation locally and will resume deliveries to customers as soon as we can safely do so. Volumes of mail and delivery times may be lighter and later during this period.

Todays statement from Parcel Force (affecting express delivery orders weighing over 500g and standard delivery orders weighing over 1kg):

The fresh snow falls in already affected and some new areas, along with the freezing conditions we currently have across many areas of the UK, is again severely impacting deliveries and collections in these worst affected areas. This now covers all of Scotland, the North East of England, areas of Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Essex, along with much of Kent, Surrey and Sussex in the South East of England.

Our drivers are out delivering in the areas where it is safe and possible to do so and we are obviously making every effort to keep any disruption to an absolute minimum. However, there were some areas yesterday and again today where it was not possible to undertake any deliveries at all. Furthermore, the closure of Gatwick airport will mean that some export traffic to non- EU destinations will be subject to delays.

Weather Disruptions as at 1st December

Friendly Baby is still in an area without snow, however deliveries are affected by snow en route to you and in your area.

Statement from Parcel Force (affecting all express delivery orders over 500g, and all standard delivery orders over 1kg).

Our drivers are again out delivering in areas today where it is safe to do so and are doing their utmost to provide as normal a service as possible.

However the severe weather conditions overnight have caused major disruption to key transport routes, and this has severely impacted our ability to get some parcels that we collected yesterday distributed to the relevant delivery depot. Additionally, the prolonged severe weather in some areas is likely to cause delays to our deliveries today. This covers much of Scotland, the North East of England, East Midlands, Essex and the South East of England (Kent, Surrey and Sussex). This has meant that we have taken the unfortunate decision to suspend our delivery guarantees nationwide for all UK services for today and tomorrow.

We will obviously continue to monitor the situation and will return to normal collections at the earliest opportunity.