Edinburgh swordsmith ‘stranded’ as Royal Mail set to impose blade delivery ban

A swordsmith has slammed a forthcoming ban on delivering blades through the post as threatening his business.

Posting swords and most blade types will be prohibited by Royal Mail and Parcelforce from May 7. Most other courier services have already introduced such bans.

Paul Macdonald owns Macdonald Academy of Arts in Stockbridge – dedicated to the study and practice of most forms of European Martial Arts and Historical Fencing.

He said: “The new postal bans will impact many of us throughout the UK as it directly affects the sporting, military, movie, TV and entertainment industry, knife-throwing, antiquities, martial arts, sports fencing, re-enactment, auction houses, collectors, and restoration markets.”

Traditional craftsman Paul also owns Macdonald Armouries which recently relocated to the Borders from Brunswick Street Lane in Edinburgh.

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Paul himself mostly makes swords for private collectors, military personnel, collectors, museums, film and TV. He was one of the craftsmen involved in making the new State Sword of Scotland, the Elizabeth Sword, named after the late Queen.

The magnificent blade is now on permanent display in the Honours Room at Edinburgh Castle. The sword was presented to King Charles at a ceremony in Edinburgh last summer.

Paul believes there are thousands of businesses that will be impacted – including auction houses which sell a lot of antique blades.

He said: “Royal Mail and Parcelforce have left thousands of businesses throughout Scotland and the UK stranded with serious problems and with only two weeks of notice. No reasons have been given for the bans and with all other UK carriers already having prohibitions in place, we are all left facing serious financial, logistical and cultural problems.

“These measures are completely irresponsible of Royal Mail and Parcelforce and a complete review of these bans will be called for by all industries affected.”

Paul said businesses are backed into a corner, with no other solution to sending the blades. He added: “When we can no longer post our traditional knives (the sgian dubh and dirk), which are sought by customers worldwide, a few miles down the road in Scotland let alone internationally, then Royal Mail and Parcel Force are creating a serious cultural issue.”

Dean Bruce, owner of Gemini Bespoke Knives Ltd in Loanhead also criticised the ban. He said: “This is the final nail in the coffin for traditional crafts which have taken years to hone. There is a national and international demand for high-quality, hand-crafted knives and heirloom tools which supports crafts-people’s livelihoods, which now sit on a metaphorical knife-edge.

“This has an impact on cultural knives as well as restoration work. The ability to have family heirloom knives, tools and cutting blades restored, repaired or re-sharpened will no longer be a viable option, resulting in more disposable plastics and metals populating landfill.”

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A Royal Mail spokesperson commented: “We have been considering our position on the carriage of bladed items, with the aim of reducing the risk of a bladed item falling into the wrong hands, to ensure both public safety and that of our posties.

“We wrote to potentially impacted customers earlier this year to give them notice of our intention to prohibit bladed items from our network. Bladed items can currently be sent through our network using an age verification product.

“After speaking to our customers, we have since further refined our policy. Instead, now some types of blades will be prohibited (eg swords, daggers, fantasy knives), some will be permitted (eg scissors, small folding pocket knives), and some will be restricted to our Age Verification product subject to additional safeguards, such as secure packaging and clear labelling (eg cutlery, utility knives). We have written to affected customers with our revised position.”

A full list of prohibited items and those that customers will still be able to send via our service can be found here.