‘Sales are down massively’ – York business hit hard by postal strikes

A York mail order business says its Christmas orders have been hit hard by the postal strikes.

Rachel Marshall runs Uniquely Local Experiences, based at Clifton Moor. She says she’s lost sales because the last day to post things for Christmas had to be brought forward.

Uniquely Local sells experience gifts across Yorkshire – everything from cheese making to alpaca walking.

Some people choose to order an e-voucher via email, which avoids Royal Mail.

But many like to send a gift box because it means they have something physical to wrap up and give on Christmas Day. These are “incredibly popular at Christmas” Rachel says.

Meanwhile, the Uniquely Local website also sells crafting kits and other standalone gifts which have to be sent by post.

Both have been hit by the impact of the postal strikes.

“We’ve been lucky because we can still send our e-vouchers for people to print out at home and give as gifts,” Rachel told YorkMix.

“People are still buying e-vouchers but they’re reluctant to order physical gifts because obviously nobody can guarantee that they’re going to get there.

“In terms of selling our craft kits and physical gifts, the sales are down massively.”

In a normal Christmas, this coming Monday (19 December) would be the last day to buy a present from Rachel’s business and guarantee to get it in time.

But because of the postal strikes, that date was brought forward to last Sunday (11 December).

And getting a courier has proved impossible. “If you weren’t prepared way back in September, you weren’t going to get a booking with a courier,” she said.

Royal Mail workers staged a 48-hour strike from Wednesday this week in an increasing bitter dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.

Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) are also set to walk out on 23 and 24 December.