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A FAMILY business reliant on the post is set to lose £500,000 in sales this year as a result of strikes over their busiest period.
Southend-based fancy dress firm Cazaar, also known as I Love Fancy Dress, has grown from a home business turning over a few thousand pounds in 2005 to a massive national company employing more than fifty full-time staff and dispatching more than a million parcels and turning over millions every year.
But the business is struggling amid a series of Royal Mail strikes, which will have cost the firm £500,000 by the end of the year, operations manager Adam Whiting, 34, said.
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Mr Whiting is calling on the Royal Mail to reach an agreement with Communication Workers Unions (CWU) striking staff and bring an end to the turmoil.
We would usually employ an extra twenty temporary staff in the lead-up to Christmas but we have had to cut back,” he said.
“It’s going to cost us about £500,000 this year, including the strikes at Halloween and now Christmas.”
The firm currently has more than 50 trolleys stacked with parcels waiting to be collected for delivery.
And at what is usually one of their best times of year, profits have been hit.
Furthermore, Amazon – where they do the majority of sales – expects the firm to be able to kep to the marketplace giant’s one-day delivery policy.
“We’re upset with Royal Mail for not settling the issue with their drivers more than we’re upset with the drivers striking,” Mr Whiting said.
“They should be getting paid a decent wage and we support that.
“We would normally be sending out 5,000 parcels a day but in reality we’re only sending 1,800 – 1,900 because of the strikes.”
A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “The CWU is striking at our busiest time, deliberately holding Christmas to ransom for our customers, businesses and families across the country.
“Instead of working with us to agree on changes required to fund that offer and get pay into our posties’ pockets, the CWU has announced plans to ballot in the New Year for further strike action.”
CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: “Royal Mail bosses are risking a Christmas meltdown because of their stubborn refusal to treat their employees with respect.
“Postal workers want to get on with serving the communities they belong to, delivering Christmas gifts and tackling the backlog from recent weeks.
“But they know their value, and they will not meekly accept the casualisation of their jobs, the destruction of their conditions and the impoverishment of their families.”
