In a word, yes.

Sadly it is meaning that we are receiving stock from our supplliers later and therefore it is having a knock-on in that way. It is also impacting delivery hubs (whichever courier we choose to use) as they transport parcels between depots in HGV's. The crisis is also impacting us from Europe, who have similar driver shortages. A lot of our stock is sourced from within Europe and delays are then compunded by extra Brexit import processes.

THAT SAID, we are well stocked as a business generally, however there will be the odd item where we have to order in, which does mean that orders can experience additional delays. We will always email you if this is the case and give you alternative options to see if they are suitable for you.

Simply, it has a cost. It costs us £4 with Royal Mail to send an average parcel on 2nd Class Tracked. We pass most of this charge (£3.95) directly onto our customers rather than loading each product with a delivery charge element. Delivery is never 'free' - where you see this advertised by other companies, they have loaded delivery charges into the cost of each product. We operate a fair trading policy and we like to itemise our costs so that you can understand them.

We don't charge extra for packaging - we cover these costs, largely because our chosen packaging is very environmentally friendly and is therefore more expensive. This is something that we have chosen to do, so we don't hold our customers responsible for paying for our choice.

99% of our domestic (within UK) retail orders are despatched via Royal Mail as they offer the best value for service on standard sized orders.

Very large retail orders are despatched using UPS or DPD, except for Northern Ireland where the Brexit/Sea Border has caused few services to be available so we use Hermes. Wholesale orders are despatched using UPS or DPD, again with the exception of Northern Ireland where Hermes is used. International deliveries are despatched using Royal Mail with the exception of the US, where we use FedEx, who have proven much more quick and reliable in getting items through American Customs.

We use Royal Mail Tracked services. This means that they scan the package upon delivery and this records a unique GPS location for the parcel. We advise customers to keep an eye on the tracking details that are emailed to you upon despatch of your order. If an item says it has been delivered, but you haven't received it please contact us as soon as possible. We can open a claim for you with Royal Mail. The process involves providing Royal Mail with various pieces of information, including your email address (they already have your postal address from the tracking details). In some cases, where there have been other instances of stolen mail in your neighbourhood, they may send an investigator to talk to you. The investigator will establish if there is video doorbell footage which covers your property or the surrounding properties to determine if they can see a theft taking place. In more serious cases, they will involve the police. We welcome Royal Mail investigations because this prevents the same from happening again to you or to your neighbours. Once Royal Mail find in your favour, we immediately arrange to replace your item and your replacement order goes straight to the top of our depatch queue. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you wish to discuss the process.

Although we are no longer in lockdown, the increase in the Delta variant is requiring many more people to self isolate when they work in close confinement environments such as postal depots. Although this is not a legal requirement, employers can impose self isolation to avoid mass outbreaks in their facilities. This practice continues to impact postal depots and sometimes postal deliveries, although at the moment we are seeing very minimal delays.

We absolutely LOVE our global customers and we are so disappointed by the current international shipping crisis. We keep delivery costs purely to what we are charged and we don't charge for packaging (which is all Eco-friendly and compostable). Due to the current pandemic, causing a global shipping crisis which impacts right across the freight industry, delivery charges across the globe have increased hugely and we have to pass this on. This recent article from Bloomberg highlights the shipping issues faced across the world

We fully expect that this crisis will be resolved as the global economy recovers from the pandemic and we will lower our shipping costs as soon as we are able to.