Switch on the TV, scroll the headlines, and it won’t be long before you hear or see the words ‘cost of living crisis’. It’s everywhere. And why? Because it’s the way of life for many living in the UK now, and it’s been getting worse since 2021. Energy, petrol, and food costs are rising; inflation is at a 41-year high topping 11% in October, and the growth rate for wages across the UK is low. All of this means that many households are worse off. The Office for National Statistics, the UK’s largest independent producer of official statistics, reported recently that 92% of UK adults have seen an increase in their cost of living compared to 2021.
Wages have increased for some this year, but the price hikes to household bills are outpacing pay rises. People aren’t happy. Unions have been balloting their members, workers have voted, and strike action has been agreed. Nurses, postal workers, ambulance staff, rail workers, driving examiners, civil servants, border force staff… All have or are due to ‘walk out’ on set days. The impact has been, and will be, significant, disruptive, and costly. No more so than that being experienced in the aftermath of the ongoing industrial action by Royal Mail workers. They want their pay to reflect the current inflation rate. The ‘unagreed’ 2% pay deal ‘being imposed’ upon postal staff, according to the UK’s biggest union for the communications industry, the Communications Workers Union (CWU), is not enough as CWU cites Royal Mail group profits at £758m. But of course, this decision to strike has come in the lead up to the company’s busiest time of the year, when the postal service can deliver more than 100 million parcels in December alone, and with 115,000 striking staff, this couldn’t come at a worse time.
And here at Sheepers, we’re really feeling the impact. We love our beloved slippers (and everything else we offer too, of course). They’re packaged with care in stunning gift boxes, as quickly as possible. We pride ourselves in the timely response and delivery of orders for all our customers, regular and new. We’re a small business and we work hard to provide the best customer service we can, but we are struggling. This situation is beyond our control.
The postal service has been under strain since Black Friday and the situation has gone from bad to worse with reports of hundreds of cages of post sitting outside sorting offices waiting to be scanned. And there’s more… With staff on strike, tracking systems are not being updated as frequently or at all in some instances. Notifications of items being despatched by senders are showing up, parcels are being collected, but there are no further updates. This appears to be a system-wide issue. It’s incredibly frustrating for us as a small business, trying to fulfil our orders in time for Christmas, and equally frustrating for yourselves, our valued customers.
Royal Mail state that they are doing what they can to keep services running during the walkouts, but with so many staff absent, the backlog is enormous, and the delays are increasing. Some parcels are getting through, and we’re delighted. But please see the Royal Mail website for information about what you should do if your parcel hasn’t arrived. There’s a useful FAQs page too specifically related to the postal service during strike action and after. Please note that an item is deemed to be ‘lost’ ‘by the end of the 15th working day… after its due date’, according to the Royal Mail’s retail compensation policy.
This situation is far from ideal for any of us. We are so sorry for the frustration we are causing you, but our hands are tied. We know that there is no substitution for the delight in handing a pair of Sheepers to your friend or relative at Christmas time, but we have created an ‘IOU certificate’ for you in the meantime. Please click here to download and print out this voucher – the recipient will know they’ll have their present very shortly. We do appreciate your support and patience at this time. It means a lot to us all at Sheepers. And we hope you manage to have as good a Christmas as possible.
